PainLoveStrength
by KodiRae
Summary: I was seven when I ran away, and I ran into a world full of monsters. Sometimes mortals can hurt us the most. Includes graphic descriptions of sexual child abuse, molestation, rape, self harm. Please don't read if this triggers you in any way. This story is loosely based on my experiences.
1. Chapter 1

**I don't own anything**

**I'm serious when I said don't read if this triggers you, an actual chapter to be uploaded in the next hour, thanks for reading!**

I stared at her, "I hate you" I thought over and over, there was no way she would ever understand what happened. How everything, absolutely everything was my fault.

"It's not your fault Annabeth." The hate began to boil over. I couldn't stop the tears that began to fill my eyes, we talked about this all last session and I didn't want to talk about this now. "So you believe that you spent the last ten years at a summer camp." This wasn't really the change of topic I wanted.

"It's like a very hands-on boarding school. A lot of kids stay there over the summer, and only about half of us stayed all year." I muttered, she wrote this down and I knew that was another plus for "crazy as hell" next to my name.

"What's the name of this school?" I refused to answer, 'Camp Half-Blood' wouldn't be the best thing to say right now. She sighed and drew a line under all her notes. "Why did you run away Annabeth?" I knew what she was talking about, but was it really that important?

"Because I was a stupid kid, I thought I could find my mother."

"Your mother's name is Athena?" Nod. "And you read a lot, you still read a lot?" Nod. "So it wouldn't be irrational for you to contemplate the theory that you having read so much, and having a mother that you never met, named Athena, came up with the scenario that you are a demi-god?" I couldn't have made everything up, that would have been years of hallucinations. And if those years aren't real, then what actually happened to me during those years? "For what you went through, at such a young age, you could have developed any number of disorders, but you need to let me help you figure out what is real and what is not."

"I know what's real." I grumble defiantly.

"Then tell me about your school for kids like you, it sounds pretty cool."


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for reading! -Kodi**

"You need to get your daughter together, I can't have her acting this way around the twins and I'm not uprooting this family if she keeps getting expelled from school." My step-mother's voice traveled up the stairs. I wanted to punch a wall, I wanted to dump all of my books off my bookshelf, but I snuggled deep into my covers and tried to ignore them.

"There's nothing wrong with Annie, she's a little different, but she did just get two new brothers." My father insisted.

"Why isn't her mother paying child-support?"

"I don't know where she is"-

"That's right that heartless bitch Athena didn't even tell you she was having a baby, you didn't see her for nine months and you suddenly had a baby in your house. But there was still no Athena, maybe whatever is wrong with Annabeth is genetic." Tears burnt my eyes, and I wanted nothing more than to find my mom, my real mom and prove to my dad that she just made a mistake. I fell asleep as the argument continued, there was nothing I could do to stop their argument.

"Annbef!" A young shrill voice cried right near my ear. I jumped up and saw my step-mother standing beside me holding Michael and Bobby. Bobby was grinning from ear to ear leaning toward me. He was handed off to me, "Annbef!" He screamed again. I flinched and tried not to throw him a disgusted look.

"You're father already left for work, you're still suspended so you get to help me with the twins and do chores." I did the stupid chores and helped feed the dirty gremlins, then she tried to get me to do homework. I read the word problems out loud and tried to focus, I tried really hard. I didn't like my dad arguing with my step-mom and I wasn't as stupid as she thought I was. "You read that all wrong, are you trying to be funny?" She was getting mad, and I wasn't trying to be funny. I shook my head and looked at the paragraph again to see that the words had changed. I could feel my face burn in embarrassment. "This is the kind of stuff that gets you in trouble all the time Annabeth. You need to get over the fact that you have siblings and start getting work done. And stop crying." I dried my eyes furiously and started to read the paragraph again. "No, wrong." I looked at the words, they didn't change. "Form, not from. The word from doesn't even make sense there." I slammed my book shut and without hesitation threw everything onto the floor.

I was seeing nothing but red as I knocked things over and watched them break on the ground. I was pulled down to the ground, my arms pinned to my side until I stopped thrashing. "Go to your room." She said in a shaking breath. I jumped up and finished my tantrum in my bedroom, the twins were crying and their mother was swearing. I packed up a backpack with my favorite books, a notebook, a blanket, all of my money, and tied my jacket around my waist. I pulled out a sheet of paper and began writing to my dad.

"I'm going to find my mom, I'll call you when I find her." - Annabeth

I climbed out my window and started my walk, I was lucky because we live so close to the highway. I walked until it got dark out then just as I got tired and scared, and seriously thought about going home, a truck pulled over.

"Hey sweetie, what's your name?" A man asked getting out and crouching down to be at my height.

"Annabeth Chase." I answered proudly. He looked around at the empty road, checked my backpack, and looked to see if any cars were coming.

"That's such a beautiful name for a very beautiful ten year old girl." I laughed.

"I'm not ten, I'm only seven."

"Wow, you're very mature for a seven year old. Are you going to your friend's house for a sleepover?" I could feel this conversation changing around me, when did this man get so close to me? Strangers are bad, but I'm a big kid, I can handle this.

"No I'm looking for my mom." I tried to stand up as tall as I could, and this made him smile. He had a nice smile.

"Do you know where she is?" I thought it over.

"New York."

"Wow, I'm on my way to New York right now. I can give you a ride." I couldn't get rides from strangers, I knew that much. "My name is Riley, my mom and dad live in New York and I'm on my way to visit them." Well that made sense. He didn't look old, he had no wrinkles on his face and hardly any hair.

"How old are you?" I asked him he took my hand gently and led me towards his truck.

"Twenty-seven. Pretty old huh?" I just nodded and shuffled my feet, I suddenly didn't want to get in his car at all. I wanted to go home and have the stupid twins drool on me. "This is my little sister, you guys can be friends when we get to New York." He flipped a picture in front of me and suddenly he picked me up and tossed me into the front seat of his car. He ran around and got in the driver's seat and pulled back onto the deserted road.

"Riley, I-I changed my mind. I don't want to find my mom anymore. I just want to go home." I stammered feeling tears roll down my face. I began kicking the glove box, my heart beat faster and faster, I pounded my fists against him and the window and tried to open the door but it wouldn't budge. Riley's face got redder and redder. If I got him mad enough he would take me home, he doesn't want to drive all the way to New York with this in his car.

"Stop right now or you're going to regret it." I was scared, and I tried to stop but I continued to kick the glove box. In one swift movement Riley slapped my face, I couldn't breathe for a second and it hurt more than anything had ever hurt before. Riley pulled the car over. I thought he was going to let me out, but he just opened a can of soda and drank half of it, he pulled out a medicine bottle and broke a pill in half and dropped it in the can. He handed it to me and I took it with a shaking hand. "Drink all of it." I brought the can to my lips and sipped the soda, it tasted terrible.

"We have to stop and sleep somewhere tonight, I'll drive you home tomorrow. But you have to drink all of that, don't say anything about how bad it tastes or I'll hit you again." I didn't want that at all. I drank the disgusting soda as fast as I could and Riley drove to the nearest gas station. He led me to the bathroom and made sure I went because we had a "long drive back to my dad's house." As I washed my hands I started to feel funny, my body felt heavy and as I stepped out of the bathroom Riley picked me up and carried me back to his truck, where I fell asleep instantly.

**Please Review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**I don't own anything about Percy Jackson**

**Thanks for continuing to read! As this story actually reaches some depth and serious topics I want to warn any of those that are easily triggered that this story contains graphic material. - Kodi**

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you my dad's address." It was my fault, I had never told him my dad's address. I looked down and noticed that I was in a big t-shirt, with no panties on. My face burnt red and I pulled the shirt down as low as it could go.

"I did your laundry for you so you have clean clothes to wear." My clothes were folded neatly on the table. "I'm sorry I hit you yesterday, but you started to act crazy!" He said jokingly. He gave me a hug and kissed my forehead. He patted my thigh and held my hand as he turned on cartoons. We watched an hour of cartoons then Riley said there was a McDonalds across the street, that he would be right back. He was back in twenty minutes with McDonalds for the both of us. I ate the food in the kids' meal and this time the soda didn't taste funny.

"Let's get ready to go!" He exclaimed after finishing the food and helping me clean up. "I'll run you a bath okay?" I nodded and followed him in the bathroom. "Ready?" He asked after turning the water off.

"I'm a big kid, I can do it myself." I sassed, he smiled.

"I know, but I'll tell you a secret." My heart dropped. "I called your dad while you were sleeping, I promised him I'd take care of you and make sure nothing happens." I chewed on my lip.

"Is he mad?" I asked Riley, feeling tears come to my eyes again.

"Not at all, he even called your mom so she's waiting for us." I snapped my head up. "So I just want to make sure you stay safe in here, so I'll just mind my own business as you take a bath, okay?"

"Okay." I pulled his shirt off and stepped in the tub. I started playing with all the hotel soaps and the shampoo was about the kill the face soap when Riley announced he was going to wash my hair. My dad did it all the time so I was used to this. I dunked my head into the water so my hair was wet and Riley stole the shampoo. He wasn't as good as my dad was at being gentle, but he finished washing it and then put the conditioner in. Before he washed it out he reached around and began tickling me. Not hard enough to be annoying like my cousin would sometimes do, he tipped my head back and rinsed out the conditioner and began combing my hair. I resumed playing with soaps, he told me to stand up so he could wash my back, then he just held my arm and turned me around and washed my stomach and my legs and rinsed me off. I went to sit back in the water but he held my arm and kept me standing.

He touched a scar on my stomach that I got from climbing a tree with thorns, then he touched me. This was bad, bad, wrong, wrong. I wanted him to stop, but there were no words to describe how badly I wanted him to let me go. It didn't hurt, but it was bad, I didn't like it. I closed my eyes tight and seconds later a towel was wrapped around me and I was lifted from the tub. I was placed in the room and the door slammed quickly. I heard Riley grunting and a few minutes later the sound of the sink. I sat on the floor where he dropped me. Riley opened the door and glanced at me.

"Can, can I take another bath?" I whispered, I suddenly felt incredibly dirty. Like I had been in a mud fight.

"You liked me touching you, hm?" He asked with a smirk.

"No, I feel gross." I insisted, he didn't understand I needed to take another bath. He pulled me up from the floor and hugged me. I wanted to pull away from him, but this wasn't a normal hug, it was too tight. He kissed me on the lips and dried me off from my bath. I started crying, but Riley didn't seem to notice and a few moments later he helped me put all my clothes back on. He led me out to his truck and we started driving again.

We drove for hours and hours and when we stopped at another motel my stomach started to hurt. I didn't want to take another bath in front of him, and I didn't want to share a bed with him. I sat in the car and watched as the sun went down. "How far away is New York?" I asked Riley.

"It should take another two or three days." I couldn't tell if he was lying or not, but I had to believe him and I could handle two or three days of this.

"Can I call my dad?" Riley typed in my dad's number and handed me the phone. The phone made a weird noise and a message said something about the phone being disconnected. "I think it's broken."

"You can try again later. Come on let's go get some food." I noticed a small diner across the street.

"Are we staying in the motel tonight?" I asked as he took my hand and we began to cross the street.

"No, we're going to drive some more so we don't waste any time getting to New York." I nodded, and even though I didn't want to hold his hand I really didn't want to get hit by a car. We went into the diner and sat in a booth in the far corner. "You aren't allowed to talk to anyone, if you talk to them then they'll arrest you for running away." Arrest me? Was running away illegal? I sat in the booth and colored the work sheet that the waitress gave me. Riley ordered me a grilled cheese sandwich without asking me what I wanted and we ate in silence. After we finished eating Riley got me a refill on my soda and put the other half of the pill in it.

"I promise I'll be good." I whispered. Riley stirred the straw so all the medicine was mixed in. "I don't want to take that medicine, I'll go to sleep myself I promise." Riley ignored me and pushed the drink closer. "I'm not going to drink it." I grumbled, crossing my arms and leaning back in the booth.

Riley glared at me in a way that made me want to run from the restaurant, I wanted to make a scene and tell everyone what Riley had done. "I can make you drink it." He growled across the table, he grabbed my wrist and squeezed it tight. I grabbed his fingers and tried to get him to let me go, but he squeezed tighter and tighter until I had tears fall from my eyes. "I won't let go until you drink it." He pulled the bottle of pills out of his pocket and placed them on the table. "I have over sixty pills in here, I will take you outside, put one in your mouth and cover it until the pill melts." He pushed the glass of soda closer to me and I reluctantly put the straw in my mouth. "If you think the soda tastes bad just think how bad the medicine tastes without the soda." I drank the soda and stared down at the table shamefully. Riley didn't let go of my wrist until the soda was completely gone. "No go to the bathroom." I did as I was told and held my sore wrist in my other hand trying to rub the pain away. When I came back to the table there was money on it and Riley was standing there waiting for me. I followed him to the truck and instead of opening the door for me he hit me hard in the stomach.

I couldn't breathe, stars flashed before my eyes and I fell in the parking lot. "Don't you ever talk back to me again. Do it again and I'll give you away to someone even meaner than me." He opened the car door and tossed me roughly inside. I didn't have to tolerate the stabbing pain in my stomach for long and the disgusting medicine made me sleepy.

**If you, or anyone you know, close to you or not, is suffering from abuse of any kind be on the safe side and tell someone. Teachers, counselors, coaches, university professors, and anyone that has some kind of higher board to report to has some kind of training in reporting abuse.**

**Please Review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**I don't own anything**

**After reading my first reviews I'm feeling both anxious and confident about what I'm doing. Thank you for those that reviewed it means a lot to me! And just seeing how many people look at my story a day means a lot too!**

**I've figured out why I'm writing this story, as I half explained in the summary the things Annabeth goes through are similar to my experiences. I wasn't kept from my family in any way and my version of Riley was a family friend, I've never talked in any detail about my experiences and having recently been attending counseling my secrecy has been weighing on me.**

**I know the extended amount of hardships Annabeth endures may discomfort and displease a lot of people, and one of my fatal flaws is pleasing others, but I'm not going to back down. I'll try and keep things tasteful obviously, and I care a lot about Annabeth, but keep in mind that she is me.**

**Thanks for participating in my heart to heart!**

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I woke up in the truck and so happy that we weren't in another nasty motel. My stomach lurched and I turned to Riley. "I'm going to throw-up." Riley sighed loudly and pulled the car over. I threw up on the side of the road and suddenly realized that I missed my step-mom, I would rather be expelled from another school, have her be mad at me, and take care of the twins all by myself than be in this truck with Riley.

I began sobbing uncontrollably and Riley wiped my face roughly with a towel from his car. He put me back in the car and pulled back onto the highway. "I want to go home." I cried.

"Get buckled." I did as I was told, that lesson had been learned last night. "I talked to your dad again."

"Why didn't you wake me up?"

"I tried, but you were deep asleep." It was because of the medicine that was his fault, I told him I didn't need it. "He said no matter what don't take you back there. He and your step-mom are fighting and he moved out."

"What about my brothers?" I could see them fighting, dad was probably mad that I ran away but my evil step mother was probably happy, and that would make dad even angrier.

"They're staying with your step mom, but your dad is going to meet us in New York, so there's nothing to worry about." I reached under my seat and pulled out my backpack, but it was much lighter than I remember. I opened it and saw my jacket and the blanket I packed, but everything else was gone, my books, my money, my picture. I had a picture, I had stolen it from my father months ago and put it in-between the pages of a book on Greek mythology, marking the chapter on Athena. Dad said that the lady in the picture wasn't my mom but it felt like he was lying, and if you looked at the picture just right she looked like the Athena in my book, but it didn't matter because the book and the stupid picture were gone.

"Did you take my stuff?"

"It's safe." Riley said calmly. I looked around his car, there weren't many places he could hide it. "You won't find it." He taunted me.

"Why did you do that? That was all the stuff I had." It took all the strength I had not to start kicking his car again. "You can have the money, but I want"-

"You can keep your lousy twelve dollars you stupid shit. You seriously ran away from home with twelve dollars and some books? What were you going to eat?" I didn't want to answer him, he was going to hit me again, and I could see his face turning red. "You're so lucky I picked you up before someone that would really hurt you. I'll give you back your books when you give me what I want."

"What do you want?" I wasn't sure I wanted to know.

"Don't worry about that." He chuckled squeezing my thigh. I truly hated when he did that. "Now stop talking, go to sleep or pretend to be asleep or I'll give you more medicine." I truly didn't want that so I leaned back in the seat and kept my eyes closed, I eventually did fall asleep for real.

I had a dream about the woman in the picture that I stole from my dad, this wasn't abnormal, I had dreams about her all the time. In the dreams I used to have we would go on walks, play in the park, eat at the breakfast table with my dad as a family, but this dream was different.

"Annabeth you have to run away." Athena said in the middle of our picnic. I offered her another sandwich but she just grabbed my hand tightly. "He's going to hurt you, Riley is a very bad man. You have to run away."

"But he's taking me to you." I said simply. "It will be okay, we can live together."

"I love you Annabeth, but he's lying and he's going to hurt you. I'll send help as soon as I can, and when I do you have to run." She hugged me and tried to understand what she was telling me. "Don't give up."

"Wake up, time for food." Riley's voice broke into my dream, but I saw my mother give me a worried look before I opened my eyes. We were in front of another scary looking diner.

"What state are we in?" I asked as I took Riley's out stretched hand and followed him into the diner.

"Missouri, what do you want to eat?" We sat in another booth and I was handed a coloring sheet.

"Chicken tenders please." I said after the waitress left. "Are we close to New York?"

"Almost, but not really." It was obvious he didn't want to talk to me so I focused on coloring. He kept an eye on the door as I ate my chicken tenders, but today he didn't look mad, he just looked tired. "Time to go." Riley said quickly as I finished my food. He dropped forty dollars on the table and picked me up, pressing my face into his shoulder.

On the way out of the diner I saw two police officers walk in. Riley pulled out of the parking lot quickly and we drove for five hours before stopping. We stopped at a motel and Riley ordered a pizza, he let me decide what we would watch on TV and then before he went to sleep forced me to drink another soda mixed with medicine. Riley laid down on the only bed in the room and fell asleep instantly, I went to the bathroom and as I was washing my hands I heard a faint voice that was hardly more than a whisper.

"Runaway Annabeth." Athena's voice was hardly recognizable. Riley was asleep, I walked out of the bathroom and tip toed past him. I fumbled with the lock on the door, but my mind had already gotten foggy and my fingers were numb. I laid down on the floor and fought the exhaustion covering me. "I love you Annie, stay strong." Athena's voice disappeared.

I woke up in Riley's truck and the day of driving continued, we ate at a fast food restaurant and stopped for the night in a gross motel that looked just like the one before it. One bed, a grainy television, and a bathroom that I dreaded entering. We ate dinner, watched TV, and Riley "helped" me take a bath, I drank the medicine and Riley tucked me into bed before laying down beside me.

The next day was like the last, and the day after that I sat in the motel eating a sandwich Riley had haphazardly put together. I slowly turned to Riley and swallowed the bit of sandwich in my mouth. "What do I have to do to get my stuff back?" Riley smirked in a way that made my stomach turn and start to regret my question.

"We can talk, after your bath." But we didn't really "talk" after my bath, Riley demanded that I help him. That it was my turn to touch him, before I could even get the word 'no' out of my mouth he slapped me. He won, he always wins and as I got ready for bed and took my medicine the Greek mythology book he handed me seemed tainted. I no longer felt I deserved it, because what I had just done was wrong.

I didn't ask for any of my stuff back ever again, but every deed I was forced to perform for Riley was rewarded. By the end of the week Riley let me go to sleep without any medicine and after getting ready for bed I opened my Greek mythology book for the first time since "earning" it back. I slowly opened it to the chapter I kept marked with my mother, I read all the amazing things that Athena could do out of anger and pain. I wasn't physically hurt, but I was angry and I prayed that I could turn people into creatures. "Go to sleep." Riley said turning off the light. I closed the book and as I lay under the covers I realized that even the mother in my dreams had abandoned me.

The next afternoon I saw the sign that meant I was almost free. "New York – 400 miles"

"We'll be in New York tomorrow kid, I'll find your mom and dad." I asked if I could try to call my dad again, and like always the weird machine picked up. I thought about my mother as hard as I could, but no one spoke to me, but today it was all okay because I was almost there.

"Stay in the room and don't answer the door for anyone, I'll be back in an hour with dinner. If you're good I'll get you ice cream." Riley smiled warmly and turned on cartoons. He kissed my forehead and walked out of the motel room. I brushed my wet hair and contemplated taking a shower since I knew Riley wouldn't be there, I would actually be clean for the first time in a week, but the thought of even stepping foot in the bathroom made my stomach hurt. I pulled my "pajama shirt" over my knees and watched the cartoon that Riley turned on, I glanced at the phone on the night stand and was about to pick it up and try my dad's number again, but the door handle jiggled. I jumped back and stared at the TV so Riley wouldn't get mad at me, but the person that came through the door wasn't Riley.

"Hi Annabeth." A man said stepping inside and locking the door, I jumped off the bed and backed against the wall. "It's okay." He smiled and took a step closer.

"No, Riley will be mad when he sees you here." I wanted to run somewhere, anywhere, but there was only one door and this stranger was standing in front of it.

"Riley's a friend of mine, he told me to check on you. My name is Matt." He sat on the bed and patted the space next to him. "How was your day?"

"Fine, I don't know if you're supposed to be here though, can – can you come back when Riley gets here?" Matt ignored me and slid closer on the bed.

"Riley's on his way, he just called me." Matt pulled out his cell phone and dialed some numbers. "Hey Riley, I'm with Annabeth, I just need you to tell her it's okay." Matt handed me the phone, I stayed as far away as I could and grabbed his phone.

"Riley?" I jumped back away from Matt as fast as I could.

"It's okay Annabeth, Matt is my friend. He won't hurt you, I'll be back in twenty minutes, okay? Just be good and everything will be fine. Promise me you'll be good."

"I promise." I responded feeling a little better. I handed the phone back to Matt, but stayed tight against the wall.

"See Annabeth it's okay." I nodded, but didn't move. I could see frustration playing on his face. He stood up to stand near me and I ran for the door, I didn't care if I was in a shirt with no panties, socks, or shoes. I didn't like Matt and I didn't want to be in a room with him.

His arm wrapped around my waist, picking me up and tossing me on the bed. I scrambled to get away, but he held me by both my arms and leaned on top of me. I kicked and screamed, clawed and squirmed, but Matt was bigger and stronger. He pulled my night shirt up, slapped a hand over my mouth, and forced my legs apart. He spat on his hand and touched me the way Riley usually does, though I hated this I knew it would be over soon and once it was done he would leave.

But he didn't leave, Matt pulled his pants down and pain erupted through me. I had fallen off my bike, gotten into fights, and broken my arm, but this pain killed me. I was going to explode and as the pain worsened I suddenly was looking at myself, I saw what Matt was doing to me and I could see myself screaming and crying, but I didn't feel anything I couldn't hear anything.

I turned my back on what was happening, I watched the cartoons still playing on the TV and in this state I easily lost track of time. The door to the hotel room burst open and I watched as Riley tackled Matt. Though I tried not to I glanced at myself for the smallest second, I had rolled on my side, still crying, but there was blood everywhere. I dragged my eyes away and watched Riley punch Matt, he dragged him to the door by the collar of his shirt and I saw Matt push a handful of money into Riley's pocket before he was pushed out of the room with the door locked behind him.

I watched as Riley sat beside me on the bed, he picked me up and held me close. He rubbed my back and rocked back and forth on the bed, I watched as his lips moved but I still couldn't hear anything. I took a deep breath and was suddenly snapped back inside my body, the pain was nauseating. "I'm so sorry Annie, I'm so sorry." Riley whispered. I gripped his shirt and cried for the longest time. When I finally stopped Riley kissed my forehead and picked me up, he brought me into the bathroom and turned on the shower. I took off the shirt that now had blood on it and stepped in.

"It'll be okay, I'm here to take care of you." Riley continued, gently washing the blood from my thighs. "I still have your ice cream, we're going to watch a movie and eat ice cream and we'll be in New York tomorrow."

"Promise?" I don't know why I believed him, Riley had lied to me the whole way here.

"I swear. Are you ready to get out or do you need a minute alone?"

"No, don't leave me alone, please." Riley wrapped me tight in a towel and picked me up again. He gave me a clean shirt and even let me put panties on, I sat on his lap at the table and ate a few bites of ice cream.

"I thought you liked ice cream?" Riley asked continuing to rub my back.

"I'm sorry, I just don't feel good." I whispered. "Can I take medicine and go to sleep? Please?"

"Of course." Riley pulled the medicine out of his pocket and broke one in half, he got a spoon of ice cream and placed it in there. "Just swallow it fast." I did what he said without thinking and snuggled into him. "You're so brave Annabeth, you're very beautiful." I wrapped my arms around Riley's neck as he stood up from the table. He laid a towel over the spots of blood and tucked me into the covers. "No one can hurt you while I'm here." I stared at the cartoon playing on the TV and let the medicine take me away.

For the first time I liked that medicine and for the first time Riley didn't scare me.

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**Phew, that was a lot. And very difficult for me to write and if you survived to the end of this chapter I applaud you. I'll update as soon as I can!**

**In my situation Riley and Matt are the same person and the "out of body" experience Annabeth has, though slightly exaggerated, is called disassociation. I personally never saw myself outside of my body, but in my head there was a place I could go and not be "there". Looking back I am very thankful for that trait but as an adult I've lost control of it so to speak, there are some times I wish I had it and other times I desperately need to turn it off.**

**Thanks for reading, please review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry for the slight delay everybody, I had written a few chapters ahead but my computer deleted them! I'm moving out of my apartment and trying to find a new job so just hang in with me and I'll try and update at least once a week.**

I woke up feeling terrible, my stomach hurt in a way that I didn't know existed. My body was sore and I knew that if I moved then I would explode. I could hear Riley walking around the room, but I didn't open my eyes, eventually he just picked me up and put me in the truck and we drove away from the motel. I wanted to pretend to be asleep all day, but Riley woke me up in front of another diner.

"I'm not hungry." I whispered at the table.

"You have to eat, I need you to eat ten bites that's all." I nodded.

"Can I have more medicine?"

"No." I felt tears burn my eyes, I needed that medicine. "Don't you dare cry, it's okay. You'll be okay." He held my hand from across the table and I held back the tears. I ate whatever he ordered me and got back into the car and closed my eyes. I didn't open them until the car stopped and Riley opened the door.

"Are we in New York?" I asked before he stepped out, but I looked around and saw we were in front of another motel. "Why are we here?"

"The truck is broken, we're really close, but I don't have the money right now to fix the car." My heart raced. I wanted nothing to do with the motel in front of me. "Get your stuff and get out." I listened to what he said and stood in the parking lot as he got a key. He opened our room and waited for me to go inside.

"I want to go to New York, you promised you would take me."

"I will, but the car is broken." He was getting frustrated, I was walking on thin ice with this conversation, but I needed to make him understand how serious this was for me.

"I don't want to stay here, I'll walk the rest of the way."

"No you won't that's absurd, get in the room Annabeth." I shuffled closer, but my heart pounded so hard it hurt, my breath hitched in my chest and my hands began to shake.

"I'll sleep in the car, just don't make me stay here." Riley got down on his knees.

"I promised I would protect you, when my friends come over I'll stay here." I chewed on my cheek.

"I don't like your friends, do they have to come over?"

"None of them are as mean as Matt I promise." He picked me up and brought me in the room before I could protest anymore. I sat in the corner of the room and watched as he walked around and put his stuff in the drawers, he had never put his things in the room before.

"Can you call my dad to pick me up?" I asked softly.

"No, I need to get my truck fixed and then we'll get to New York. That's how it is. I'm going to go get us some dinner, don't you dare leave this room." I nodded. Riley left me there and I stared at the front door. I was alone and anyone could come in and hurt me. Just this thought made me want to crawl under the bed, but my body was paralyzed but the fear of that door opening was even worse so I quickly crawled to the closet and shut the door tight.

From the light that poured in under the door I stared at the picture of my father and who I pretended to be Athena. Why had I ever run away? I was so stupid and now my father will never want me back, but even if that was true I had to find him and just tell him I was sorry. I stared at that picture until I heard the front door open, I almost died, but it was Riley that called out for me.

"What the hell are you doing in there?" My face burnt red and I could tell by the way that Riley was glaring at me that he wouldn't understand if it tried to explain it to him. "Get out of there and eat dinner." I scrambled to comply to his request and decided that I really didn't need to talk today. Riley seemed pretty happy that I wasn't bothering him and when it was time for my bath I didn't complain or drag my feet like I usually did, as soon as things turned bad I managed to get back to that place in my head where bad things didn't happen. Just as I was about to return to my body someone walked into the hotel room. Riley just sat at the small table where our dinner was still sitting and watched as this stranger tried to touch me, my body obviously didn't really need me inside because I shoved him away and cried towards Riley. But from out here I could see that my dream mother had been right, Riley was a bad person. And Riley was going to hurt me.

I couldn't hear him, but I could see from here that I had to let this man do whatever he wanted. Riley seemed to know him and Riley didn't care that I didn't want to do this. I stopped fighting but there was no way that I would ever stop crying. Riley had promised that he would protect me, that he wouldn't let anyone hurt me and he lied. With that thought the tears did stop and my face froze in a stare of blank nothing, I didn't watch what the stranger did, I didn't need to see that again.

Riley stayed the whole time, maybe he thought this was protecting me, but I hated him with every atom of my being. It didn't take long for the man to leave but I didn't want to return to my body, but after a while I didn't have a choice and I was suddenly back in my disgusting body. The man was sitting at the table talking to Riley, and I couldn't look at him, I didn't want him here any longer.

"Call me if you need anything." Riley said to him with a huge smile. The man grunted and dropped money on the table. Once the stranger was gone Riley made me take another shower and brushed my hair in front of cartoons. He whispered in my ear how beautiful I was and how proud he was.

"Why did he give you money?" I asked as Riley tried to make me go to bed.

"Because spending time with you is very special." He answered simply.

"I thought you weren't going to let them hurt me?" I felt tears in my eyes, but I was furious with Riley.

"I made sure he wasn't as bad as Matt right?" I didn't answer, I wanted to hit him. "Was he?"

"No, but I don't want, I hate"- My words got stuck in my throat, how could I explain how terrible this was?

"Okay well here's the deal, I don't have any money to fix the car. These people give me money to spend time with you, you only have to do that five more times before I have enough money to fix the car okay?" Not okay, but I had to get to New York. "I'll be here every time so they don't hurt you."

"Can I have medicine to fall asleep?" Riley handed me another pill and I swallowed it whole without it being mixed in soda. I stared at the ceiling and begged for my dream mother to come back and give me more advice. I wanted to run away, I just didn't know how or where, and it was running away in the first place that got me here.

I woke up in the motel room alone and panicked, why would Riley leave me alone? If he left me alone anyone could get in and hurt me, someone could kill me, and what if he left me here and went to New York all by himself. I saw a note on the table and read it carefully so I wouldn't get any words wrong.

"Annabeth, went to go buy groceries." That was it? Why couldn't he take me with him? I tried to stand up and go to the bathroom, but the pain that struck through me was surprising and I knew then that other people would know that I was a bad kid. I shuffled to the bathroom and got dressed in day clothes before sitting back down on the bed and watching television. I flipped through all the channels twice before something made me drop the remote.

"Seven year old Annabeth Chase has been missing for over a week." That was me, why was I on the news? "She left a note to her father that she ran away, but was never found. A few days ago someone identified her and we have this security footage." You could see me and Riley in the video, he looked really mean. "This man is named Logan Jacobs." I turned the channel to cartoons, they had that wrong, they didn't really know where I was if they didn't even know Riley's name.

Riley came back a few hours later with groceries and didn't look at all surprised that I was still there. He knew I was too scared to even think about running away.

"Is someone coming over today?" I asked softly.

"No, not today, tomorrow." I let out a small breath of relief. I wanted to tell him about me being in the news, but I knew that it would just make him very, very angry. I played a few card games with him and hugged him tightly for the movies he brought back. Even though I knew that Riley was bad, that my dream mom had been very right and he hurt me, he was the only person I had to protect me.

**Please review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks for reading! And I love everyone that has reviewed!**

I kept a tally on the inside cover of the notebook I had brought along and as soon as I had five tallies inside I knew that I was free. The next morning at breakfast I smiled at Riley, "So when will the truck be fixed?" I asked. Riley stared at me for a few moments, maybe he didn't understand. "You said five people, we have enough money to fix the car right?"

"Yes, but it'll take a week for the car to get fixed, so a few more days and we'll leave." I could handle that. "So it wouldn't hurt to make some more money while we wait."

"I don't want to." I said softly. Riley hadn't hit me in weeks and the slap caught me by complete surprise. He stood me up roughly by one arm and shook me roughly, I stared down at the floor, but he hit me again, and again, and again.

"You do what I tell you, when I tell you. Understand?" He didn't give me a chance to answer, just hit me again. "Your parents aren't coming to get you, they don't love you, I'm taking care of you and the least you can do is what I tell you." I felt myself pull back into my mind, but Riley grabbed my face and forced me to look at him. "You belong to me, you do what I tell you to."

But it hurts, I feel terrible, I feel disgusting, I feel used. I wanted to tell him, but the glare in his eye told me he didn't care how I felt. He already got what he wanted from me and he wanted nothing else from me. He wiped the tears out from under my eyes and I winced at the bruise that was already forming under my eye.

"Let's go take a bath and get dressed. I don't want to hear a damn thing about what you want ever again." He was right, he didn't care about me at all. I didn't talk, there really wasn't a point. I felt a familiar uncontrollable urge, one that would usually send me into a tantrum, but I wanted to feel something else and it scared me what I could do to myself. Riley bathed me and clothed me then had me stand in front of the mirror and he brushed my hair, I was surprised at the light bruising on my face, but my dream had warned me, and I didn't listen, I didn't run away.

I tried as hard as I could to stay in my head for the next week, it made my head hurt but I didn't have to worry about that those people had done to me. I didn't dare keep track in a notebook anymore, just looking in the notebook made me want to throw up. I ate the food Riley put in front of me, I wore the clothes he gave me, I did what he asked me, and I smiled at the men he brought to me. I did everything I could to keep Riley happy, but he still hit me, he wouldn't give me medicine to help me sleep unless one of his "friends" gave him extra money. I hadn't said a word in an entire week, but Riley still insisted that I did everything wrong, but I knew Riley was still there to protect me because after every man left Riley would hold me, tell me I was beautiful, and promise me that he would take care of me.

After a week of having Riley do everything for me and just acting like a sort of robot I didn't know what to do when Riley packed all of his things and handed me my back pack and opening the motel room door. I took a deep breath and came all the way back into my body in an attempt to understand what was going on.

"I thought you wanted to go to New York. We'll get there tonight." I walked slowly towards the door, Riley started to look impatient and making him angry was the last thing I wanted to do right now. "Get in the truck." He said softly. I did as I was told, but it felt like such a long time ago that I had sat here hoping that I would find my mother and leave my step-mother far behind me. Now I felt as though I had no family, all I had was Riley and he let people hurt me in a way that made me hate myself.

We drove for six hours and we entered a world so different than one I had ever seen. I had been in cities before but nothing close to New York. "Pull over." I blurted.

"What are you crazy?" Riley laughed. "Where do you think you're going to go?"

"I can find my mom and dad from here, please pull over." Riley continued to laugh like I was stupid, I felt stupid even without him laughing.

"Your parents are going to meet us at a motel. I gave them the address and they'll be here tomorrow to come get you." I felt tears again, but I fought them back, Riley wasn't ever going to let me go. It made me angry, but he was bigger than me, he was stronger than me, and he was the only person that could protect me.

We pulled in front another dingy motel, I knew right away that as soon as my parents came to get me I would never step foot in a motel again. I got out of the truck and followed Riley inside, I couldn't help but smile a little bit at the fact there were two separate beds in the room. "That bed is yours." Riley said dropping his stuff on a bed. I took a running leap for it and thanked him over and over. "Let's go get some ice cream?"

"Really?" I asked tentatively, I was worried where he would take me, maybe he really was going to give me away.

"Yup I promise." He opened his arms for a hug and I jumped into his arms, I knew it would make him happy and if he was happy he wouldn't give me away. I got in the car and was amazed that we actually pulled in front of an ice cream shop, it was probably one of the most expensive places I had ever been in and Riley bought me an ice cream so large there was no way I could finish it. "You know I don't mean it when I get mad at you, I just get worried that you don't love me as much as I love you."

"I'm sorry." I answered.

"Do you love me Annabeth?"

"I love you." I just needed to tell him what he needed to hear.

"You know that those times I get mad at you, it's because you don't listen some times."

"I know and I'm sorry." Riley leaned over and kissed the top of my head, at least he was happy. He finished the ice cream I couldn't and we drove around the city, the bright lights were dizzying and on a full stomach I fell asleep in less than an hour.

I woke up in the motel room, in my own bed. Riley was shaking me gently, "Your parents are getting here today to pick you up." I sat up quickly and saw that it was already ten thirty in the morning. "Let's go take a bath." I followed him into the bathroom, whatever happened today didn't matter, my parents were coming. My father and my mother, this was the first time I would ever meet my mother.

After Riley brushed my hair and put my back pack on my shoulders we sat in his truck bed together.

We sat for hours, Riley made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and I ate it slowly watching the road for my father's car. "Do you think they'll be mad I ran away?" I asked after another hour.

"Maybe, they'll probably be happy you decided to go home." I nodded, and waited.

Another peanut butter and jelly sandwich for dinner and Riley started to get agitated.

"Maybe they're lost." I whispered as the colors of the sunset stained the sky.

"I'm going to go watch TV." Riley huffed and went back inside the motel room. I counted passing cars, dogs, people, but none of them were my father. When it was dark out and less people were walking by Riley sat next to me in the truck again. "Maybe tomorrow?" He said softly. I didn't answer, I started to cry, something I hadn't done in a week. "It's okay, I love you, remember?" I nodded into his chest. He picked me up and brought me back to our room.

I got up early the next morning and waited all day, but no one came.

The next few days I waited from inside the motel room, and by the next week I had given up. No one was coming to get me, Riley was the only one that loved me. When I understood that no one was coming to save me Riley's "friends" returned, but it didn't bothered me anymore. Riley was right, he loved me, he would protect me, and he was the only one that could take care of me.

**Don't worry everyone, someone is on their way!**

**Please review!**


	7. Chapter 7

**HELLO EVERYBODY! Thanks for reading and reviewing, you guys are the best people in the whole world!**

Time is a strange thing, especially when you spend a lot of it in another world. I didn't have any parents, I didn't deserve them, because I ran away. The life I led now was punishment for the family I had taken for granted, but I also understood that even if they came for me now, once they really saw what I had become they wouldn't want me anymore. I know that I wouldn't want me anymore.

Riley was my best friend, my parents, my family. He would buy me books and even take me to the library to use the computers, I wasn't allowed to go to school but if I asked nicely he would buy me old text books. My collection of Greek mythology books grew, I knew a lot of the stories by heart, and though I hated my parents I couldn't throw away their picture.

One day in the library I was looking up the story of Athena and Arachne when I noticed the date at the bottom of the screen. "It's time to go home." Riley said in the seat he kept directly behind me.

"My birthday." I whispered to him.

"What about it? Let's go." I shut down the computer and followed Riley out of the library.

"My birthday was two months ago." I continued as I got into the truck with the stack of books Riley let me borrow.

"Well, how about I buy you that geometry book that you wanted?" He said softly.

"You're the best." I exclaimed in a fake emotion I had perfected. It blew Riley's ego up and made him nice for hours, and it also protected me from any anger he had towards me. I didn't want to tell him the reason my birthday bothered me so much. I had been living with Riley for over a year, my parents had long forgotten about me and there was no way they even cared I was gone.

When I got back to our room I dropped all my books on the bed and began organizing them. Riley seemed to sense that I was still upset about my birthday and sat on the edge of my bed. "I already promised someone that they could visit you today." My stomach dropped and my mind already started pulling away from my body. "It's someone that I trust, they've visited you before, and I'm really sorry I didn't know about your birthday, so while he's here I'm going to go buy you a cake and some ice cream, some movies." That truly was the nicest thing anyone had ever done for me in a year and I couldn't help but smile. "Let's go take a bath and he'll be here in an hour, and I'll be back as soon as I can. I trust him, you'll be okay." I gave Riley a huge hug, and though being alone with one of Riley's friends terrified me I knew that it meant Riley trusted me.

I tried to smile as much as I could as Riley brushed and dried my hair. "Eight is pretty old Annabeth, in a few more years you'll be able to make money for yourself." I just watched in the mirror as my hair dried and flattened out. I forced myself to actually look in the mirror and saw that I had changed a lot in the past year, my hair was a darker blonde, but it was mostly my eyes. They were a dark, dark gray, and they seemed to tell everyone the things I knew.

Riley made sure I looked perfect for whatever friend was coming and when there was a light knock on the motel room door he kissed the top of my head and grabbed his keys off the table. "I have to run some errands." He said to the man in the doorway. "If you hurt her, I'll kill you." He said in a low voice that terrified me. He went out and I could hear the truck start, but the man locked the door behind him and I was alone.

The man started small talk, then turned the television up and that was my queue to pull away from myself. Everything was fine, I hated myself, but it was fine. I focused on breathing, I thought about the myth I had read in the library just hours ago. Athena could do anything, except rescue me. Pain suddenly brought me violently back to consciousness, I pulled away from Riley's friend and he hit me hard, harder than Riley had ever hit me.

"I'm sorry." I said quickly, he grabbed my arms roughly and forced himself on me. "I'll do whatever you want but you're hurting me." I tried to reason, Riley would be mad if he wasn't happy.

"I paid for you, you do what I want you little slut." He covered my mouth with his hand and I panicked. I kicked him and bit him, I scratched and squirmed, but he was bigger and he was stronger. I chomped down on his hand and he hit me so hard my head swam for a few minutes. Just long enough for him to win, I tried to ignore him and find my way back to that place in my mind but it hurt so badly.

Just as I started to cry the door to the motel room burst open. I kept my eyes closed tight, Riley had told the man that if he hurt me he would kill him. Either way today was going to be terrible. He jumped off the bed quickly and the shouting started.

"Don't you dare touch her." A voice shouted, but it wasn't Riley. I couldn't open my eyes, I tucked my knees to my chest and continued to breathe.

"Get the fuck out of here before you get hurt." He growled, I could hear them fighting and someone cried out, and I honestly didn't know who I wanted to win. "You had better hope I never see you again." The door to the motel slammed shut but opened again just a few moments later.

"Did you just let a monster walk out of here?" A girl's voice filled the room.

"I stabbed him, he's not that kind of monster." The boy panted.

"Oh my gods." She hissed. A towel was thrown over me. "Luke stand outside and keep watch." The door closed gently and a hand touched my shoulder. "Can you hear me?" I opened my eyes slowly and saw a girl that looked like she was thirteen, she had shoulder length black hair and a black leather jacket, but she looked really worried about me. "My name's Thalia, you're Annabeth right?"

"H-how did you know that?"

"Athena told me where to find you." She said simply. "Are you seriously hurt? Can you walk?"

"Athena, my mom?" She nodded. "I can walk." She handed me my clothes and started packing up my back pack. "C-can you help me?" It hurt to bend over, but Thalia didn't seem to mind. She tied my shoes and I stood up slowly.

"Do you feel alright?" I nodded. "I'm going to take you somewhere safe, okay?" It dawned on me, Riley could have sent them. I could get in serious trouble. Thalia seemed to see what I was thinking. "Your mother told you she was sending someone to get you, when you had a picnic with Athena she said when you had the chance to run away. Your mom sent us, I promise." How could she even know about something that wasn't real.

"That was a dream." I muttered, but I couldn't think about that now. "Riley will be back soon. We have to leave."

"Okay, you can't take all these books, which ones do you want to keep?" I kept the things I started with. The things I had taken from my father's house, the door to the motel opened slowly and I froze, but it was just a boy about the same age as Thalia holding a dagger.

"Thalia we have to go before someone comes back." He rushed.

"Annabeth this is Luke, are you ready to go?" I nodded and stayed close to Thalia. She pulled out a dagger of her own and nodded for Luke to walk out of the room. "Luke make sure no one tails us, Annabeth stay close to me." We started running and after a few blocks we turned into the woods. We ran for over an hour, but the adrenaline kept me going, and the deeper we got into the woods the better I felt. "We're almost there." Thalia huffed and kept running ahead of me.

We stopped in front of a tent in the middle of nowhere and just as soon as we stepped up to it someone stepped outside. I jumped behind Thalia and she held tightly to my hand. "Where's Luke? Where did you guys go? I'm supposed to protect you, you can't just run off."

"Grover this is Annabeth, Athena said I had to get her." Thalia held me close to her side and I looked up from the ground to see a black boy only a few years older than Thalia. Just then Luke came running up behind us.

"No one followed us." He huffed. He looked at us, smiled awkwardly and walked in the tent.

"What happened to your face?" Grover asked, but the question was directed at Thalia. I felt my ears turn red and I looked back down at the ground.

"You and I can talk later." Thalia said quickly, Grover nodded and walked back in the tent just to come out with a small square of something I guess was supposed to be food because they wanted me to eat it. "It's ambrosia, it'll help." I put it in my mouth and was instantly homesick, I wanted to spit it out, but I had missed my father's cooking for so long. I must have started to cry because Thalia hugged me tightly. "Come on, let's go inside." I followed her into the tent and saw that it had enough room for three army cots and a rack of swords. Luke was snoring in his bed and I doubted a tornado would wake him.

"I'll sleep on the floor." I said quickly, I didn't want to give them a reason to kick me out.

"No, take my bed. Grover and I are going to keep look out tonight." I nodded and sat on Thalia's bed. "I'll be right outside the tent, you can talk to me whenever you want." She handed me her dagger and tucked me in. "You're safe here, I swear." I trusted her, out of all the times Riley had lied to me there was something about Thalia that I trusted. She smiled and walked outside the tent and the sound of her and Grover talking reminded me that she kept her promise to stay right outside.

"So Athena told you where to go?" Grover started kind of awkwardly.

"Yeah, I had a dream and Athena told me where to find her daughter named Annabeth. She's eight, and I don't know where she came from, she wasn't living with her parents, she was in a motel and, and"- I think Thalia started to cry. I wanted to explain to her that I was okay, it wasn't as bad as it looked, but I didn't want her to know I was listening.

Thalia and Grover talked for hours and even though I didn't know where I was I fell asleep, the last thing I remembered was Grover assuring Thalia that we would get to camp by tomorrow afternoon and Chiron would know exactly what to do.

**Please Review!**

**Kodi**


	8. Chapter 8

**Thanks to everyone that has reviewed, I really enjoy reading what you have to say. Percy will be in this story, just around the same time that he comes in the Lightning Thief (probably age 15 or 16) I know that's the "movie" age but for the maturity level I need Annabeth to be at that will be more realistic. Thanks for continuing to read!**

**-Kodi**

I woke up and scrambled out of the army cot, whoever was on the bed next to me sat up, but I just grabbed my backpack and ran out of the tent. I still had Thalia's knife in my hand, but I needed it, so I just started running. I had to get back to Riley, how could I possibly think I would be safe with a group of teenagers? Maybe Riley's friend actually killed me.

"Annabeth come back!" I heard Thalia calling behind me, but I didn't look back, I just kept running. Hopefully I was running the right way, being out in the open made my heart race, Riley was going to kill me. I could still hear Thalia calling me so I knew she was following me, and it was only a matter of time before she caught up.

Every tree looked the same and I had no idea how to get back to the motel where I was safe. My parents didn't take me back after I ran away, but I knew that Riley would. I hoped that Riley would, I needed him. I would tell him that his friend hurt me, my face still hurt so I assumed that it was still bruised, I would explain that I got scared he was going to kill me so I ran away till I was safe.

Riley was going to buy me a birthday cake, he probably actually bought me a birthday cake and I wasn't there when Riley came home, he was probably worried. He was worried, he was hurt, and he loved me.

Someone grabbed my backpack and I fell to the ground. I tried to get back up and keep running but they held down. "Calm down, where are you going?" Thalia cried letting me sit up.

"I have to go back. I'm not safe out here." I rushed. I could hear Luke calling out for Thalia. "Take me back where you found me, I don't want to go with you." Thalia looked confused.

"But Athena said that she told you we were coming. Why in the world would you want to go back there?" I picked up the knife that had been knocked out of my hand and tried to hand it back to her. "That's a gift, you keep it, it's yours now."

"I had a dream a year ago that someone I pretend to be my mom wanted me to run away. It was a dream, not real. I haven't had that dream since. I have to go back, Riley protected me." I tried to explain.

"I have dreams too, I had one to come find you, and how else would I know your name?" Luke's voice was getting louder.

"Whatever, you know Athena? Take me to my mother, or take me back to Riley." I demanded. "How come my mother sent you to save me and I've never even met her? I want to go home."

"Your mother is Athena, and why the hell would you want to go back there?" Why was this so difficult for her to understand?

"Yes my mother is Athena." I grumbled. "And I want to go back because Riley is the only family I have, he's all I got, my parents don't want me anymore." Thalia looked a little defeated. I could see Luke running up to us now, and Grover wasn't far behind him.

"Your mother is Athena the goddess of wisdom."

"That's not funny." I grumbled.

"I'm not kidding, my father is Zeus and Luke's father is Hermes. All three of us are demi-gods." I ground my teeth together and started at them. Grover finally caught up with us.

"What about you, are you a demi-god too?" I snapped at Grover, he laughed a little but Thalia shot him a serious look.

"No, I'm a satyr. I'm supposed to protect demi-gods but it's kind of difficult when they run away and leave me to pack up the tent all by myself."

"You just expect me to believe that you're a satyr? I don't want to hear anymore lies, just take me back where you found me." I stood up and brushed leafs of my pants. "Or just leave me alone and I'll find my way back myself. I shouldn't have ever left." Grover pulled his sweat pants down and before I had enough time to be embarrassed I was surprised to see that Grover really was a satyr. Grover pulled his pants back up and I sat down on the ground. "My mother is a goddess?"

"Yes." Thalia answered simply. I was angry, all those stories I had studied for a year, all the wild dreams I had were true, and that truly meant my prayers went unanswered. All the miracles that Athena had performed, all the rages she had that turned people to creatures, but she never helped me.

"Take me back." I demanded, wiping away tears that betrayed me.

"Okay." Thalia's face became emotionless, but she helped me to my feet and started walking.

"Okay?" Grover blurted. "No part of this is okay! We have to get to camp, it's dangerous to be out here, and it's dangerous to go back there." Luke agreed, but they both stepped back at the glare Thalia gave them.

"We're going back, we're only a few hours away from camp we'll either get there today or tomorrow." Thalia wrapped her arm around my shoulders and we walked together with the boys behind us.

After two hours of walking we were standing back in front of the motel, I didn't see Riley's truck, but maybe he was just out looking for me. I went into our room and saw that the door was broken, I opened it slowly then stepped in. The room was ransacked, the television was broken, glass was everywhere, the closet doors had been ripped off, but all of our things were gone. I walked out of our room and saw the three of them sitting in front of the dumpster, I walked towards them trying to breathe normally.

"Are you okay?" Thalia asked standing up. I looked up to stop the tears from falling and saw the edge of a geometry text book sticking out. I climbed up on the ledge of the garbage can and saw all of my things thrown in there, I couldn't help but go through them, every single thing I owned was thrown in there, even the library books that were supposed to go back in two weeks.

"Hey, kid, get the fuck out of there." A voice shouted, someone grabbed my arm and dragged me away from the trash can, I pushed them off me and turned to the guy that yelled.

"The guy that was living in room 27, did he leave?" Thalia tried to shush me, but I ignored her.

"Yeah someone broke in and stole all his stuff, he left this morning." The guy muttered something about homeless kids and walked back into his office.

"This is all your fault." I screamed at Thalia, she seemed unfazed and that just made it even worse. "I didn't want to leave and now he's gone, he was all I had and you ruined it."

"Can you guys give us a few minutes?" Thalia asked the boys, they walked away without question and she turned back to me. "You can keep yelling at me, but we can't stand here in front of the motel, the owner is getting mad." She walked to the edge of the parking lot and sat on the curb. "Sit down." I wanted to kick her, but she knew more about my mom than I did, so I sat five feet away from her. "I'm sorry he left." She whispered.

"No you aren't." I grumbled. "You don't understand, he loved me, he cared about me."

"I'm sure he did." She said honestly. "My mom had a drinking problem, and sometimes she would hurt me. Not on purpose, but she would, and my mother loves me very much."

"She hurt you?" I slid a little closer to her.

"Yeah, I ran away, my little brother is missing, he's either missing or dead, and it's my mother's fault." I stared at the cracked street.

"I ran away too, Riley offered to give me a ride to New York. He kept me safe, but he hurt me sometimes." I admitted.

"How old were you when you ran away?" Thalia picked up a handful of pebbles and started tossing them across the street.

"Seven, but I'm eight now. Riley bought me that book for my birthday." I gestured at the geometry book still sticking out of the dumpster.

"Do you want to keep it?" I shook my head. "It's okay, my mom would hit me sometimes, especially after Jason went missing."

"Yeah." I whispered.

"Was that Riley there with you in the room last night?" My heart started to race and my face turned red. I couldn't breathe but I felt really gross, I started to pull away from my body, but I had to remind myself that I wasn't actually in danger.

"No, that was his friend, Riley was buying me a birthday cake."

"Yesterday was your birthday?" I relaxed at the change of subject.

"No it was a few months ago, but Riley didn't know so we were going to celebrate."

"See he really did love you, but the way he hurt you is different than the way my mom hurt me." Thalia glanced back at the motel room and then turned her attention back to the street. "What Riley did to you wasn't okay, what Riley let other people do to you wasn't okay either, but it wasn't your fault."

"I don't want to talk about this." I grumbled.

"I know, but if you come to this camp with Grover, Luke, and I no one will do it ever again." I sighed, I didn't really have anywhere to go now, and she knew that. "I'll tell Chiron everything, then he'll ask you some questions and it'll be over."

"How long have you been at the camp?" I wanted this whole conversation to be over.

"I haven't been yet, but Grover has been there his whole life. He explained everything to me, it'll be great we can live there until we're grownups."

"I'll go with you." I promised her. She stood up from the curb and we walked to where the boys were waiting. We started our hike and I suddenly noticed that I had my first friend, Thalia was the first person that had ever cared about my side of things, about what I wanted. "Do you think they can help me find my dad?"

"Probably." We walked for hours and after a while I started walking next to Grover and asked him about all the things we could do at camp. There was normal school stuff that everyone had to do, which I was secretly excited about, but there was also archery, and sword fighting. We could go on quests and fight real monsters, as Grover bragged about camp I could hear Luke and Thalia talking a few feet behind us. When did I get so good at eavesdropping?

"So is she okay now?" Luke asked.

"Uh, she's a good kid, but you don't just turn okay." Thalia muttered.

"I get it, you know I do, my mom has schizophrenia I think. That stuff would get ugly." Luke answered defensively.

"No you don't get it, neither of us do. Just whatever you do don't make her talk about it, ever." Luke started to protest. "Promise me, I'm serious."

"I promise." Luke grumbled.

We walked until the sun went down, but Grover assured us that it was just over the hill and we would get there before they finished dinner. We crossed over the hill and a giant wooden entrance practically appeared in front of us. As soon as we stepped through it the sounds or life erupted, people were laughing and shouting, I could smell food and even from here I could see a large bonfire down by the lake.

"Let's go get dinner, Mr. D and Chiron will be there and they'll talk to you after dinner. They probably won't talk too much because it's late so you'll talk to them more tomorrow, but since all of you already know who your godly parent is you already have your bunks." We couldn't help but smile and even though we were all exhausted we ran after Grover as he made his way to the pavilion where the noise was coming from. We saw hundreds of kids younger than me and much older than Luke and Thalia, the dinner commotion died down for only a moment before roaring up again. It must be pretty normal for people to just show up at camp, we sat at an empty table and Grover showed us how anything you want will just appear on your plate, you just had to give some away to the gods first as a thank you.

I dropped the smallest piece I could without feeling guilty in the fire for Athena, but I couldn't help but feel that hate start to bubble over. This was the best food I had ever tasted, I ate so much I was about to explode and I had no problem just falling asleep on the table I shared with my new friends, and I think that's what actually happened.

I woke up in a room full of bunk beds, some of the older girls were helping the younger ones get dressed and there was already a small line to the bathroom even though there were only seven people in the room total it was a lot of people trying to get ready in the morning.

"Your name is Annabeth right?" The oldest girl in the room asked standing next to my bed. I nodded and sat up trying to find Thalia. "I'm Melanie, I'm head counselor, but most importantly I'm your sister." I guess the look on my face gave away what I was thinking. "We're all children of Athena here, the boys live next door, you'll meet them later, but right now you have to get ready to meet Chiron and Mr. D so you can come to school with us."

"So we're actually all related?" Melanie nodded and placed a stack of stuff on a dresser next to my bed.

"Anything you might need is right there, come find me if you have any questions." I nodded and watched as she walked away and helped make sure all the kids were ready to go on time. Waited until the bathroom was empty before taking the toothbrush off the stack of things that had been left for me, I brushed my teeth and combed my hair up into a ponytail before putting on the clean clothes left out for me.

"Hey Annabeth are you ready to go?" Thalia was standing in the doorway with the same orange shirt on that had been given to me, but she kept her jeans with holes in them and her leather jacket. I followed her out of the cabin and saw that we were in the middle of a horse shoe of cabins.

"Where did you sleep?" I asked looking around.

"Over there, it kind of sucks." She pointed to a white marble building with gold trim. "I'm alone in there."

"You don't have any siblings?"

"Nope just me. Let's go to the big house, Luke is already there." We followed a path, passed a few obstacle courses and what I had to assume was the school before we arrived at a house with a wrap-around porch and white trim. I followed Thalia up the stairs but walked slower as I got closer, I really didn't want to be here of all places. But I was starting to wonder if Thalia was scared of anything as she opened the door and stepped inside.

"Hello new campers!" A man in a wheel chair called from the other room. "I'm Chiron the activities director here at Camp Half-Blood, Mr. D is the camp director and he's talking to Luke and Grover. Follow me to my office and we can talk about your time here." Thalia did most of the talking which I was fine with, she knew all the answers.

"Have either of you been diagnosed with ADHD or dyslexia?" Chiron asked and I just stared at him.

"I don't know what that is."

"Do words look funny when you try to read?" That was the problem the whole time? The whole reason I was getting bad grades? "And sometimes you do stuff and you don't know why?" I nodded. "Okay well I'll have one of our teachers test you, but it's normal for demi-gods."

"I have them both." Thalia answered, she glanced at me for a second and then watched as Chiron started writing if folders marked with our names. "While Annabeth is getting tested can I talk to you in private?"

"Of course, we're almost done." He pulled a sheet of paper out of a drawer and wrote my name and age at the top. "Annabeth I need you to take this to the school, you saw it on the way here. Do you want someone to walk with you?" I shook my head and left the big house. I knew what Thalia was going to tell Chiron and I really didn't want to be there.

I walked down the path to the school and was amazed at the new amount of freedom I had, I had spent a year in motel rooms and now I had twelve siblings, my own bed, and I could go to school. I stepped into the school building and someone was standing there waiting for me.

"Hi you must be Annabeth, I'm one of the school counselors, you can call me Mrs. Valentine." She held out her hand and I slipped mine into hers. She led me to a room that I assumed was her office and we sat across from each other in comfy chairs, she asked me questions and had me help her with puzzles, I read from story books for her and she didn't get mad if I messed up words. "You are definitely a daughter of Athena, and like almost every demi-god you have ADHD and dyslexia, but you're in the right place. We can help you read better and you have nothing to worry about, now it says here that Grover was only supposed to help Thalia and Luke get to camp, how did you get here?"

"They found me, I ran away from home and Athena sent Thalia a dream where to find me and they came to get me." I said simply.

"Does your father know where you are?" Mrs. Valentine asked causally.

"I don't think so, but I don't know where he is either." It was impossible to see what Mrs. Valentine was thinking, I couldn't tell if I was in trouble or if she was just really nosey.

"Well how long ago did you run away?" I shrugged and she smiled warmly, all the butterflies in my stomach calmed down. "It's okay you aren't in trouble, I just need to make sure your dad knows you're safe."

"I ran away over a year ago." I whispered feeling suddenly embarrassed by this fact.

"Wow, where were you for a whole entire year?" I chewed on my lip, I had a strong feeling that Riley could get in a lot of trouble if people knew that I was living with him.

"My friend, he kept me safe." I stared down at the floor, and at just that moment there was a soft knock on the office door.

"Come in." Mrs. Valentine called, Chiron opened the door and started whispering to Mrs. Valentine. She stepped outside and closed the door gently behind herself, I guess all the kids here were as good at eavesdropping as I am because all the adults were very good whisperers.

Mrs. Valentine came back in the room with a folder in her hand and sat back down on her couch. "Thalia told Chiron some things about the friend you were living with for all that time. You aren't in any trouble, but I'm going to have a police officer come and talk to you, is that okay?"

"But I don't want Riley to get in trouble." I blurted out, I suddenly hated Mrs. Valentine more than anything, she couldn't possibly understand how good Riley was. "I don't want to talk to anyone."

"I can't guarantee that Riley won't get in trouble and I'm very sorry, but the police officer will help us find your dad, and they can keep you safe too. I can also tell you that the police officer I'm going to call is your sister, a daughter of Athena, she used to go to camp here."

"I don't really have a choice, do I?" I brought my knees up to my chest and glanced up to Mrs. Valentine.

"You always have a choice, but if you want to stay here we have to find your dad and ask him if it's okay for you to go to school here." I nodded and we sat and talked for another hour, we talked about the things I liked and the different awesome things I could do at camp. She didn't bring up Riley anymore and I hated her a little less for that. Someone brought us lunch in her office and just as we were about to finish the police officer she had talked about came in.

"Hi, you must be Annabeth." She had a big smile and dark brown hair, she looked a lot like the picture I had of my parents. She pulled out Mrs. Valentine's desk chair and pulled out a tape recorder and a notebook. "I'm Stephanie, I'm just going to ask you some questions and you answer them the best you can, don't worry about anything, just answer the questions with the truth okay?" I nodded. She pressed the red button on the tape recorder and smiled at me again. "Can you tell me your whole name?"

"Annabeth Alexandra Chase." This was easy.

"How old are you?"

"Eight."

"Do you have any brothers or sisters that live with your dad?"

"I have twin brothers, Matthew and Bobby, they're two, no three." I smiled back at Stephanie, she seemed really nice.

"Can you tell me why you ran away from your dad's house?" That story was easy too.

"I got in trouble at school and my step-mom was really mad at me for getting suspended again. If I got suspended one more time then I would have to do summer school and she already had to take care of the twins and when I get really mad I would break her stuff. I didn't mean to, but I would just get really mad. So I ran away to find my mom, but that was stupid." I could feel my face turn red.

"It's okay, no one is mad at you, running away is very dangerous so we need to find something else for you to do when you get upset. You aren't stupid Annabeth." Mrs. Valentine interrupted, Stephanie agreed.

"What happened after you ran away?"

"I was walking for a long time and Riley said he would give me a ride to New York."

"Did he?" I nodded. "You have to answer with words for the tape recorder." She said softly.

"Sorry, yes he did." These questions were becoming annoying and I could tell where they were going, I wasn't stupid, they had just told me so.

"Did you ever feel scared of Riley?"

"Only in the beginning, but he was really nice most of the time. He would only be mean if I messed up, and that was my fault." Stephanie nodded.

"Did you ever know Riley's last name?" I thought about it for a moment, after a year of living with him I never did see his last name. He never used it and no one ever said it around me.

"No."

"Did Riley ever hurt you?"

"If I was bad, sometimes he hit me." I muttered. "But he wasn't bad, he shouldn't get in trouble. He would keep me safe when people came over and he loved me." I tried to explain, but I could tell by the look on Stephanie's face that she didn't understand at all.

"Would he ever touch you in a way that made you feel bad?" Mrs. Valentine asked, and even though I knew these kind of questions were coming they felt like a punch to my stomach. "We might need to take a little break Steph." Mrs. Valentine continued in a soft voice, but I forced myself to glance up at the two of them.

"It's okay." I wanted to get this over with, I pulled away from my body just enough so the pain in my stomach hardly bothered me, but I could still hear their questions. "He did sometimes." I heard myself whisper. I could hear myself telling them all the things that Riley did, and the things that he made me do back to him. Mrs. Valentine started writing things down too, but I wasn't sure why, and that wasn't important now I had to answer these questions so they would leave me alone, so I wouldn't have to talk about it ever again.

"Why did Riley have to protect you when people came over?" Stephanie asked carefully after receiving a nod from Mrs. Valentine.

"They liked spending time with me." I said simply.

"Did something happen for Riley to need to protect you?" Mrs. Valentine must have a book on how to be nosey and get the answers you want, but I heard myself telling her about Matt, and then how the truck broke down and we needed money, and then we just needed money.

"Then we got to New York." I heard myself finish.

"Did Riley drop you off somewhere?"

"My parents never showed up to get me, I waited, but they never came. Riley let people come over all the time and we lived in different motels for the year, but Riley loved me, he bought me books and took me to the library." I snapped back into my body and somehow Mrs. Valentine seemed to notice because she leaned closer.

"Did you ever talk to your parents on the phone?"

"No, when I called I always got an answering machine, or the number would be disconnected." I answered with a shrug.

"Do you remember any of the names of the motels you stayed in while you were in New York?" I rattled them off and Stephanie wrote every last one down. "What about the libraries?" I remembered all of those too. "Wonderful, I'm going to go make some phone calls." She turned off the tape recorder and stood up from her chair. "You are an awesome kid, I'm glad you're my little sister. If you ever need anything I want you to call me okay?" She handed me her business card. "I promise I will answer, no matter what." I smiled back at her jumped up to give her a hug, she left the office and I was left alone with Mrs. Valentine.

"Do you go other places sometimes?"

"Like in an airplane?"

"Almost, but your mind goes other places and your body stays there?" I nodded, how could she know? "You know that it wasn't your fault what those people did to you, and it wasn't okay. It's never okay for people to do that." I ground my teeth together and stared at the floor. "You don't have to talk, and I'm done talking about it, I just want you to remember that it's not your fault." I nodded so she would stop talking.

We went for a walk around the camp and watched as some of the older kids did an amazing obstacle course, we watched the javelin competition and I even got to pet the horses. Stephanie caught up with us as we walked around the archery range.

"I have great news, your dad and step-mom and brothers are on their way to come get you. They live in California now but they're getting on an airplane and will be here tomorrow. I'll come back to camp to get you tomorrow morning." I was excited and anxious and angry, mostly angry.

"Why didn't they answer when I called?"

"I think Riley was giving you the wrong number so he wouldn't have to give you back." Mrs. Valentine said kneeling down in front of me. That hurt, but that was probably the truth.

"Do I have to go live with them? I like it here."

"Don't you miss your family?" Mrs. Valentine asked getting another concerned look.

"I do, but I want to go to school here, I want to be with other demi-gods. My parents don't know about all this stuff." The concerned look was instantly replaced by a happy one.

"Your parents may want you to live with them for a while because they missed you so much, but I will personally come and talk with them and tell them all about the school here and how we can help you learn better. I will do my best to make sure they send you to school here." I threw myself at Mrs. Valentine, she annoyed me sometimes but she also seemed to understand me.

"Annabeth!" I heard Thalia shout behind me. She ran up and I could tell that she loved it here too. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine!" I exclaimed, everything was going to be fine. I didn't know Riley's last name so there wasn't any way that they were going to find him anyways. Thalia introduced herself to Mrs. Valentine, but it seemed as though she had already talked to Stephanie.

"I answered some questions that she had about how I found you, Luke did too." Riley wasn't there when they came to get me, they didn't know him at all so that was fine too. "Can Annabeth come swimming with us?"

"Of course." Mrs. Valentine answered without hesitation. "Annabeth if you need anything, or get scared, just tell Melanie and she knows where to find me. Promise?"

"Yup!" I took off at a sprint towards the cabins to get the swimming suit that had been in the stack of things that Melanie had given me. I had the most fun I had ever had and I stuffed myself full sitting at a table with all my new brothers and sisters. They even let Thalia sit with us because she didn't have anyone else at the Zeus table.

We had marshmallows around the bon fire and the older kids told funny stories about Mr. D, who sounded grumpy but not really mean. I followed my siblings back to our cabin and turned left into the girls' wing to brush my teeth and take a shower, I knew I needed to after swimming in the lake but it made me nervous, after thirty minutes of standing in the bathroom and letting other people go first, I was the only one left.

"Annabeth it's time for lights out, are you okay?" Melanie asked from the door way.

"I'm fine." I answered quickly. "Can you, could you, will you do me a favor? You don't have to, and I'm not a baby." I rushed.

"Of course I will, what do you need?"

"C-can you stand in front of the shower so no one comes in?"

"Absolutely. You can even talk to me the whole time to make sure I'm still there." I nodded and that's exactly what I did. I asked her about classes, and if Greek was a hard language to learn, we talked about horseback riding and canoe races. I got out of the shower, dried off and got dressed before pulling back the curtain. "Do you want me to braid your hair?"

"You know how?" I asked excitedly. "Yeah, I'll teach you." She towel dried my hair and combed out tangles before putting one long braid down my back. "We can practice tomorrow, right now it's time for bed." She tucked me into my bed and climbed into her own, it had been a really long day, and even though I was excited to see my dad and brothers and even my step-mom, I was exhausted and fell asleep.

**I'll try and continue to write longer chapters, but sometimes the creativity only runs for so long! I have my first class of the semester starting tomorrow but I don't have classes on Friday so theoretically I have enough time to post a chapter a week!**

**Please review!**

**-Kodi**


	9. Chapter 9

I woke up to Melanie whispering my name, "Annabeth, Stephanie is here for you." I jumped up and started to get dressed, Melanie helped me pack up my backpack and gave me a tight hug. "You come back soon, okay?" I nodded and stepped outside of the only place I had ever wanted to call home.

"How are you today Annabeth?" Stephanie asked, taking my hand and walking out of the cabin area with me.

"I have to say goodbye to my friends." I handed her my bag and sprinted to the Zeus cabin, I let myself in and instantly saw why Thalia hated it. It wasn't really a cabin, it was a temple that had a bunk added to it. "Can you come home with me?" I asked embracing Thalia tightly.

"I can't, but I'll wait here for you. I'll stay here till you come back." She promised, she made sure I had my dagger and then walked with me to Hermes cabin and woke up Luke. There were twice as many kids in the Hermes cabin than there were in any other cabin, but Luke seemed to love it.

"You come back soon okay?" He said through a yawn, but he smiled a huge smile and hugged me tightly. I felt safe in his arms, they didn't hold to tight like I would run away, but they also didn't hold awkwardly like someone was going to see. "I love you kiddo, you have to come back so I can teach you how to swing a real sword."

"I promise." I choked back tears, and they hugged me again before Stephanie stressed that I had to get to the police station in New York City so my parents could get me.

I climbed into the back of her police cruiser and watched the camp disappear into the woods. Stephanie stopped and got doughnuts and kept trying to start up conversation, but I was really nervous. There was something weird about having your parents come and get you after a year of not even talking to them, would the recognize me? Did they actually want me? I was going to be grounded forever.

The car stopped and Stephanie opened the door to let me out, but I didn't want to get out. I wanted to go back to camp, Stephanie smiled softly, but knew I wasn't going to get out so she slid beside me in the small back seat.

"You have some time, your parents won't be here for a few more hours, you get to meet your social worker"-

"I don't want to answer any more questions." I answered quickly.

"Oh no, Annabeth don't worry." She held my hand tightly. "She won't ask you questions like that she's just going to make sure that you're safe at home. I promise."

"My parents never hurt me."

"That's right, but now we just want to make sure your parents take very good care of you, and if you ever feel like you ever want to run away again then you can talk to your social worker. I think you'll like her, I picked her out myself." I stared at the police department. "Are you ready to go inside?" I nodded and she stepped out of the car, carrying my backpack with her.

Stephanie held my hand tightly and we entered the building together, she walked quickly past a room full of people, some were in handcuffs but all of them looked exhausted. We got into the elevator and Stephanie led me to a room with a table and a couch, Stephanie waited with me for my social worker and after a half hour there was a knock on the door.

"Hi, are you Annabeth?" A woman asked, stepping into the door. Stephanie jumped up and shook her hand, they talked softly for a few seconds before stepping inside and closing the door. "I'm Jenny, I'm your social worker, no one is in trouble I just want to make sure you're okay."

"I'm fine." I insisted, I don't think anyone actually understood that, I was actually fine.

"Great, before you see your parents I'm going to talk to them, and you don't have to leave with them until you are ready." She sat beside me on the couch.

"Annabeth are you okay waiting with Jenny?" Stephanie asked handing Jenny my backpack. "I have to do some work, I'll be in the desk in the far corner of the room."

"Yeah." I heard myself say, but I didn't really want her to leave. I sat in the room with Jenny, and neither of us talked for hours. She didn't make me talk about Riley and other than asking if I was hungry she didn't make me talk at all. She pulled out her computer and we watched a movie, I don't even remember what it was about, but I really appreciated the fact that she let me ignore her.

After lunch Jenny's phone rang and the commotion began, Stephanie came back and played cards with me while Jenny talked to my parents. They talked forever and I had a gut feeling that Jenny was telling them every single thing that had happened over the past year.

"Did you tell my parents everything?" I asked Stephanie after I lost another hand, I had lost every single turn, but Stephanie hadn't said anything about my lack of participation.

"Jenny is doing that, we're also making sure your parents know about doctors you can talk to so you don't ever have to talk to your parents. It's going to be alright and if anything happens, even if it's nothing important and you just want to talk, you can call me or Jenny." I nodded. It was awful, I wanted to be back at Camp Half-Blood, only a few people there knew that all of this had happened to me, and those few people hated talking about it just as much as I did. "Jenny is a demi-god too, she'll help the best she can to get you back to Camp Half-Blood, but she's your social worker and that's most important."

"My parents are going to be mad." I grumbled. Stephanie held me in a tight hug and just continued to repeat that, "my parents loved me very much" over and over. I didn't pull away from her and she didn't make me get up. After another two hours of waiting Jenny came back in the room, I held Stephanie even closer as my heart beat faster, I didn't want to deal with my parents right now. I didn't want my entire life to change again.

"Your dad and step-mom are ready to see you whenever you're ready. They're waiting for you to be ready, you don't have to rush anything okay?" I nodded. "I'll wait in the hallway." I don't know why, but I started crying, it was the hardest I had cried in a year, but I also hadn't been this scared in a year.

"What do you do when you get scared?" Stephanie asked as I tried to catch my breath between tears.

"Read." I admitted simply. Stephanie opened up my backpack and pulled out my Greek mythology book marked with the picture of my dad and Athena.

"Wow, you've read this a lot." I nodded. "Let's pick a different story for today." She flipped to the chapter on Poseidon and started reading. I wasn't really listening, but just having Stephanie there made me start to feel better.

"Can you come home with me?" I asked as she finished the story of Poseidon's birth.

"No I can't, but these things that make you feel better your parent's can do too. I'll tell them that you like being read to, and whenever you find something else that makes you feel better just let them know." She glanced back at the book then closed it. "Are you feeling better?"

"Yeah. I think, I think I'm ready to see them." Stephanie gave me another hug and I stood up from the couch, she put my backpack on my shoulders and we walked out of the room together. Jenny smiled brightly as I stepped into the hall.

"Are you okay?" Jenny asked, looking at Stephanie for the answer. Stephanie bent down and gave me another hug.

"You have my phone number, promise you'll call me if you need anything."

"I promise." Jenny took my hand and led me away from Stephanie, I waved and she smiled. We ended up in front of another room, Jenny placed her hand on the handle and it was almost as if she opened the door in slow motion.

"Annabeth!" My dad called out, he rushed forward, but seemed to stop himself. "We love you so much." He said through a watery smile. I ran forward and hugged him tightly, he picked me up and even though I could feel him crying he seemed the happiest I had ever seen him. "I'm so sorry." He repeated over and over.

"I want to go home." I heard myself say, and I suddenly knew it was true. I hated everything that had happened in the past year and I wanted to go home with my dad and step-mom more than anything.

"You're coming home with us and everything is going to get better, I promise." I nodded and rested my head on his shoulder. I saw my step-mother standing in the corner of the room with tears in her eyes. I reached my arms out to her and even though I was eight years old they held me like I was one of the twins. I couldn't help but apologize over and over to her and I started crying too.

"Annabeth it isn't ever your fault, your father and I are here for you though, we love you very much. I'm sorry I yelled at you, I'm very sorry." She put me down and took my backpack off, Jenny motioned for us to sit down on the couch and she started talking to my parents.

"So I have a doctors' appointment set up for Annabeth in three days, she has an appointment with a psychologist the day after that, here's the paperwork from the counselor that talked to her. She has a suspected diagnosis of ADHD and dyslexia, and I'll be back in California next week when they close this case." My parents thanked her, signed some papers and accepted a sealed folder from Jenny. "I'll see you in a week, okay?" She said to me.

"Thanks." I said as she shook everyone's hand and walked out of the room.

"The police have a few pictures they want you to look at Annabeth, and then we can go home." My dad said placing a hand on my knee, I moved away slightly and he jerked back as if I had burned him. "Sorry." He said quickly.

"What do I have to look at pictures for?" I asked him. "What time does the plane leave to go home?"

"The plane doesn't leave till tomorrow morning, and we just need to look at some pictures so we can figure out why it was so hard to find you." I knew they wanted to send Riley to jail, he was going to get in so much trouble and he would be really mad at me.

"Tomorrow? Where are we going to stay tonight?"

"We have a really nice hotel, it has a swimming pool with a slide"-

"I don't like hotels." I said quickly.

"Okay, it's okay, we can talk about it when we leave the police station. Alright?" I nodded. A police officer came in and placed a folder on the table.

"Annabeth can you point at the picture of Riley?" I glanced at all the pictures for a brief moment, all the men looked a little like Riley, but there was Riley row three column two.

"Is he going to get in trouble?"

"All of these people have already been arrested."

"If I tell you which one is Riley will he go to jail for a long time?" I couldn't stop bouncing my leg up and down.

"Not necessarily, but we do need to find him so no one gets hurt." I glanced at my dad, then at my step-mom.

"It's okay Annabeth, just do your best." My step-mother said and held my hand tightly. I took a deep breath and pointed at the picture of Riley. The police officer turned the page and I glanced through the pictures again.

"He's not there." I said to the officer. He nodded and turned the page again, we went through three more pages of pictures before the officer closed the folder and thanked me, "We have some police officers that will escort you to your car, there's a few news crews outside and we want you folks to get home safe."

"You did great Annabeth." My dad said standing up, my step-mother put my backpack over her shoulder and my father picked me up again. We stepped out in the hall way and Stephanie was there smiling.

"Mr. and Mrs. Chase it's a pleasure to meet you, Annabeth is wonderful." My dad shook her hand and thanked her profusely. "I'm going to help you get out of here without getting heckled too much, Annabeth can you put this jacket on?" She handed me a huge jacket with the NYPD logo on the back. "When we step outside I'll put the hood up so we don't have any pictures of you flying around." I nodded.

We walked out to the lobby of the police department and the hood was pulled over my head. My dad held my head down and I wrapped my arms tightly around his neck, the shouting was deafening outside, lights flashed and people asked all sorts of questions. When we finally made it to the car my parents had rented Stephanie smiled at me and handed me a New York Yankees baseball hat. "My mom told me that when you most need it that hat brings the best luck." I felt a smile break out on my face and thanked her. "Call me." I nodded and my dad gave her a hug before sitting me in the back seat and driving away.

The drive was quiet, but it wasn't awkward. We went out to dinner and to the movie theater, we went for a walk around central park and then to the hotel near the airport. "I don't like hotels." I whispered into my dad's shoulder.

"I know, we'll look at the hotel room, just look at it and if you want to leave we will. Okay?"

"Promise?"

"I swear." He carried me up to the room, and I kept my eyes closed the whole time. "Alright, this is our room." He said softly, I glanced around, and even though hotels are cleaner and nicer than motels, they all look the same.

"No, I want to leave." I tried not to scream, but my panic was obvious. My dad stepped out of the room quickly.

"It's okay, we won't stay here." I kept my eyes closed as he walked quickly out of the hotel. My step-mother brought their bags back into the car and we drove around for a while until the two of them decided that we would go bowling for a while, maybe even see another movie and then just let me sleep in the car for a few hours. Our flight left at six in the morning anyway so it was only a few hours away.

The night passed in a blur, and my parents did everything to keep me busy and make me exhausted and after three hours it worked. I fell asleep in the back seat of the car and woke up in the airport parking lot, we walked through security and as we waited for the plane they struggled to entertain me again.

Eventually I just pulled out my book on Greek mythology and handed it to my father to read to me. "You took this with you?" I nodded. "I looked everywhere for it, I'm glad you still have it."

"Me too." I snuggled into his shoulder and he opened it, it fell to the most viewed chapter of them all. My dad reached for the picture of him and Athena and by the way his hand was shaking I could tell he was trying not to cry.

"You know this is your mother right?" My dad said softly pointing to Athena.

"Yeah." I chewed on my bottom lip. "I-I ran away to find her." I admitted.

"I'm sorry, I should have talked to you when you asked me to." He whispered.

"It's okay. Can you read this chapter?" I flipped to where Stephanie left off and he started reading about Poseidon. My dad kissed the top of my head and I cringed, he didn't see, but I saw my step mother, who was sitting across from us, flinch. My father started reading and just as he finished the story of how Poseidon founded Athens the plane began to board.

I sat between my parents and as soon as the flight lifted off the ground my dad pulled out his laptop and played my favorite movies. This six hour flight was torture for my parents, they had no idea how to act around me now. Their main goal was to keep me happy, but they really were worried that I was a different kid in some way.

And they were right, I was a different kid, but I didn't even know who I was now. I am the daughter of Athena and Fredrick Chase, I am eight years old, I am a demi-god, but I am still lost.

** Thanks for reading everyone! It's -4 degrees Fahrenheit (-20 degrees Celsius) with the wind chill it feels like -26 Fahrenheit/-32 Celsius. Also known as freezing cold. Since classes have been cancelled so no one gets frostbite I'll try and crank out another chapter.**

**Thanks again, please review!**

**-Kodi**


	10. Chapter 10

**This is me apologizing in advance for the short chapter, but sometimes you just write it and you can't really change it.**

Being at home was difficult, and that was the nice way of saying it, it was terrible for everyone. The real problems started when my dad went back to work, two days after they brought me back home. I understood that he had to make money, but it put a lot of pressure on my step-mother, she had to take care of the twins and me, and neither of them knew what to do with me.

I spent a lot of time reading in my room with the door closed, my step-mother would always walk by and open it again and remind me that we don't close doors in the house. Over and over until she would open it, remind me to keep it open, and tell me to come down for lunch. I followed her to the kitchen and sat down in the chair that had become mine, she placed a sandwich in front of me and a glass of soda. I stared at the sandwich and the soda, and some part of me began wondering if there was medicine sprinkled in it.

"Is there something wrong?" She asked placing food in front of the twins.

"Is there something in this?" She looked confused. "Is there any medicine in this?"

"No Annie, of course not." She said softly, I stared at the food skeptically, the food disappeared from the table and my step-mother sat in front of me and I watched her make me another sandwich, then open a canned soda and pour it into a glass. "How about you help me make dinner tonight?" She asked as I took a bite out of the new sandwich. I nodded happily and watched as Bobby threw a handful of mac n' cheese at Matthew.

I got up to return to my room, but my step-mother insisted that I read at the table. She cleaned around me and I tried to focus on my book with the sounds all around me, but the extra distractions made the words dance. I got frustrated and slammed the book shut, which made my step-mother jump.

"Are you okay?" She asked, her voice cracked. She was scared, she was terrified of me. I ignored her and went to the living room, the twins were playing with toy trains and they ignored me. They didn't really remember me, I turned on the TV and tried to get comfortable. I struggled to extinguish the constant anxiety in my stomach, I didn't belong here.

The anxiety only made my ADHD worse, and even though my parents had been dealing with it for seven years it seemed to change them now that it had a name. ADHD was the reason I behaved the way I did, so until I saw the psychologist, the psychiatrist, and the new pediatrician my parents kept their distance during every tantrum. By the time dinner came around I had flipped through all the channels on the television at least a hundred times, my step-mother had stood and watched for about fifteen minutes before accepting that this was what I was doing to avoid living.

"Annabeth, come help me with dinner." She said softly, I continued to flip through channels, my heart was racing and all I wanted was for it to stop. "Honey." She sat beside me on the couch and I could feel her eyes burning into me, she knew everything I had done. "Annabeth, look at me, please." I took a deep breath and dragged my eyes away from the television. "Let's turn the TV off."

"I-I can't." I muttered. It was true, if I gave up this then I would have to deal with what I was feeling, and I couldn't deal with that, not right now.

"Just give the remote to me. I'll deal with it, I can read you a story, or you can read the cook book, I just need you to stop with the TV." I ground my teeth together and dropped the remote in her outstretched hand. "Thank you." She turned off the TV and glanced at me. "Are you okay? Do you need to talk about anything?" She touched my hand and I jerked away.

"No I'm not okay, I don't know what's happening to me, but I don't want anything from you. I don't need anything from any of you." I shouted at her, I could see exactly how I hurt her play right across her face. As soon as the words left my mouth I wanted to take them back, but it was done and there was nothing I could do.

Matthew began to cry and relief filled her face, she jumped up from the couch and went to help the twins. I saw my moment of opportunity and started to make a sprint for my room, "No, Annabeth, you still have to help me make dinner." It was as if what I had just told her didn't matter.

I did help her make dinner, I cleaned up afterwards. Dad got home from work and I went through my new bedroom routine, my parents let me lock the door when I took showers, and after I had brushed my teeth and laid in bed my father would come in and read to me. I watched as everyone went to bed and fell asleep, but I hadn't been able to sleep for more than three hours a night since I got home.

After a week of tension and watching my parents argue about how to handle my tantrums I had a doctors appointment. There was a wonderful arrangement of tests, my blood was drawn and my vision tested, they showed me how I had grown in a year then assured my parents that I was healthy, they strongly suggested we follow up with a trauma counselor and a psychologist and a psychiatrist, but I was healthy.

I stared at my parents as they heard this news, it seemed like the best thing they had ever heard, that I was actually a normal kid and everything they had been concerned about in the last couple of days was just temporary.

The week was hectic, the day after my physical I had a meeting with a psychologist, she wasn't as nice as Mrs. Valentine, but I didn't have to talk about anything I didn't want to so I was okay with that. According to her I was going to meet with her every week unless I didn't like her, we went through a series of tests, some of them were the same as the ones that Mrs. Valentine had given me. "You do have ADHD, do you know what that means?" I shrugged. "I know you do, you are a really smart kid, one of the smartest I know. I'm not going to tell you, your father told me you like to read so here is a book on ADHD. I'm going to give you the version I give kids first and next week if you want the one that I'll give your parents just let me know." I stared at the book and even though some of the words danced I was relieved that I didn't have a person demanding something from me.

"Do I have dyslexia too?" I muttered, it was the first thing I had said in her office, but it didn't surprise her. Her face was difficult to read, she actually didn't have many real emotions she was like a book, her emotions were predictable and exactly what you would expect.

"I believe you do, but there are other specialists that can help you with that, not me." I nodded. "When you see the psychiatrist tomorrow he will prescribe you medicine for the ADHD, that, with the schedule I gave your parents, will help you sleep better. You won't be so anxious all the time, you can do this and I'm here for you."

The rest of the week was uneventful, I refused to participate in trauma counseling and therefor didn't need to stay in trauma counseling. My parents were given a list of warning signs and symptoms of various things, but as the week went on I was pulling myself back together. I started the ADHD medication, I refused to swallow any pills so it was in disgusting liquid form, and even though it made me feel weird I functioned from day to day. My step-mother read up on all the diets and exercises that had worked for other parents with children that had ADHD, I smiled more and they smiled back. I was figuring out exactly how to be normal again and every time I figured out more the less the things that had happened to me mattered.

When I was home for a month I got to go back to school, I begged my parents to let me go back and after I had been thoroughly tested by every doctor in town they found a school for kids with dyslexia among other issues.

I sat in the back of the classroom, I didn't answer any questions, and I watched other students more than I watched teachers. I still learned everything I needed to know, but I was learning something else too. By the end of my first two weeks of school I knew how to be a kid again, my psychologist could see the change, but she reminded me over and over that this was a choice I was making and when I was ready to change she would be there.

But I was normal, there was nothing I could do to change, because if I went back to the way I was I would hurt everyone that had changed their life just for me. I liked being normal, I would rather die than feel as lost as I did a simple month ago.

By the time I had camouflaged my way back into human life the events that haunted me were among the furthest of memories. They belonged in the dreams that I didn't remember and even though I woke up in the middle of the night I rolled over and went back to sleep in seconds. I was Annabeth, I was normal, everything that had happened was okay, I didn't even remember it.

**Thanks for reading, please review and I'll post another chapter as soon as I can.**

**-Kodi**


	11. Chapter 11

**Sorry I took so long, but I got a 92% on my Anthropology quiz and I think I did really well on my Child Language Development quiz! I hope you enjoy!**

**-Kodi**

I sat in history class and struggled to ignore Lauren. My parents had worked really hard to find this school and it was a great school for kids with dyslexia and ADHD, I had to talk to the school counselor once a week, and they made sure I continued to take my ADHD medicine. No matter what happened in school I tried to convince my parents that I was okay, I didn't want to be stuck at home, which brought me back to the struggle of ignoring Lauren.

I didn't have any friends at Richardson Elementary, it was a choice that I made to remain invisible, but suddenly to be invisible also meant to be someone else's victim. Lauren sat beside me, she was the kid that answered all the questions and she was the kid that every girl wanted to be friends with. Except for me, I didn't raise my hand to answer questions, I chose to sit on the steps and read during recess, and every time Lauren drew mean pictures of me I ignored them.

Until history class, it was just this week that she started kicking me under the table we shared with two other students. I was trying to read along with our teacher but every time Lauren kicked me in the shin I had to stop and count to ten, a stupid trick that my psychologist taught me so I wouldn't have tantrums, and even though I hated to admit it, it actually worked.

When Lauren figured out that kicking me wasn't working she started pushing all of her books and papers and pencils into my space. This was something that I couldn't ignore, I had ignored so much from her, but this was too much. I pushed her things out of my space and tried to count to ten, I only got to five before her things were in my space again, my heart started to race, I didn't like my space being messy.

"Stop." I grumbled.

"Oh so you can talk, I thought you were stupid." I started counting again, but at five she moved her things back to my side again.

"This isn't funny." I tried to keep my voice low, but it waivered. Everything that I had been working on since I got home six months ago was slipping away.

"What a cry baby." The girl sitting next to Lauren laughed, and as I cleared my desk of her things Lauren kicked me again before sliding a paper on to my desk. I pushed away from the table and my chair slammed to the floor, I backed into our teacher who had somehow ended up behind me.

"Let's go outside Annabeth." She said gently, her teaching assistant had already taken her place at the front of the room. My heart was racing, my hands were shaking, I wanted to reach across the table and punch Lauren in the nose over and over, I wanted to kick the table over and rip all the stupid smiling posters off the wall. "C'mon Annabeth, it's okay." I stomped through the classroom with my teacher close behind me, she closed the door gently and I started to walk away. I don't know where I was walking, but I needed to move. "No, you have to stay here." I started pacing, and I couldn't breathe. "Do you want to talk about what happened with you and Lauren?" I glared at her. "I think we need to do some breathing exercises." She kneeled down so I could look into her eyes and started counting, I just started to get frustrated.

"I can't get in trouble." I huffed.

"No one said anything about you getting into trouble, I just need to know what happened between you and Lauren."

"I don't want her to be mad at me, they all hate me." I felt tears streaming down my face and it made me angry, I don't cry, I'm not a baby.

"She still can't be rude to you, you can take as long as you want, but I need you to calm down." I turned around and without thinking I punched the wall, I did it again and again.

The school counselor dragged me through the hall and into the nurse's office, my teacher followed us and after I was sat in a chair and forced through fifteen minutes of breathing exercises. "Okay, are you feeling better?" She asked gently. I nodded and released my death grip on the plastic chair, my right hand throbbed, but I ignored it. My body was shaking and I felt exhausted and just wanted to sleep.

"Can you tell me why you got so upset?"

"Lauren was being mean." I answered simply.

"Remember how we talked about when it's okay to tell on people?" I nodded. "This is one of those times. Lauren hurt you and it's okay that you tell about it." I held my throbbing hand in my lap and massaged my knuckles.

"But she didn't hurt me in a bad way."

"Anytime anyone hurts you, even a little bit, you need to talk to someone so they can help you feel better. I think that Lauren may have hurt you in a way that's against school rules, not in a way that can get her in a lot of trouble, but we need to talk to her so she isn't mean to anyone else." I debated this for a few moments in my mind, and realized that the school wasn't going to let this go.

"She was kicking me under the table and I ignored her, but she started messing up my side of the table. I moved her papers and asked her to stop, but she didn't, she called me a cry baby. I'm not a cry baby and I just like my space to be clean, it makes me feel bad when things are messed up." My counselor nodded and listened in a way that always made me feel better, she cared what I had to say and she didn't make it a bigger deal than it was.

"Does it always make you feel that way when things get messed up?"

"My step-mom always lets me clean how I want, she helps me, but when my brothers mess my stuff up I have to do breathing." I grumbled.

"I'm proud of you doing your breathing at home, does your breathing always work?" I shook my head and her face fell a little. "What happens when your breathing doesn't work at home?"

"My brothers are little, they don't mean it. But Lauren means it, she does it on purpose." She nodded.

"I'm going to call your dad, you aren't in trouble I swear, but you hurt your hand really bad and I want you to go to the doctor." I felt a little defeated, but the nurse pulled my hand away from my lap and I saw how swollen it was. She placed an icepack on my hand and I struggled not to pull away, but it hurt really badly.

When my dad did arrive at the school, I could see he really was worried, and I felt terrible. They had taken me back into their house even though I had caused so much trouble and here I was causing trouble again. He came into the nurse's office and picked me up into a tight hug, he checked out my hand then made sure that I kept the ice on it before sitting in his own chair and listening to my counselor.

They talked about why I had gotten upset, and that was followed by all sorts of serious conversation of OCD, more diagnoses made of letters. The talk of medications, but mostly how my dad would like the situation of Lauren handled. They assured me she wouldn't get in a lot of trouble and after talking for a few more minutes they set up a meeting for tomorrow morning and put my hand in a sling with a fresh icepack so I could go get an x-ray.

The car ride to the office was painful, but boring, my dad tried to keep me distracted and offered to get me ice cream at the end of my x-ray. "You probably just jammed some knuckles and we'll get out of here in no time. I know you hate doctors, but we'll get out of there in no time." We pulled into the parking lot and I sat down in the children's corner as my dad signed me in.

"What happened to your hand?" A kid playing at a table of cars asked me. I shrugged and hoped that this wouldn't take very long, my hand hurt more and more every minute we waited. "Does it hurt?"

"Yes." I grumbled, the kid's name was called and he left me alone.

"You're going to get called in really soon." My dad whispered, he placed his hand on my thigh and I jerked away. "I'm sorry, I always forget that bothers you." He said, mostly to himself.

"It hurts a lot." I answered, changing the subject.

"I know, you probably broke your hand, but once they get an x-ray and fix it up you can have some medicine to make it hurt less." I must have made a strange sound. "I know it's just a bad day. I'll make sure it's liquid medicine, I swear." I glanced down at my hand in a sling, it was already an array of colors, definitely broken. "Please don't punch anymore walls. I know when you get upset you need to do things, but I would rather you break things and scream and throw tantrums than hurt yourself."

"I didn't mean to hurt myself." I said quickly, but as soon as it left my mouth I knew it was a lie. When everything was happening, when the world was exploding around me I hit that wall as hard as I could, I put all my frustrations and emotions behind it and when I hit that wall everything went away.

"I know, I just don't like it when you're hurt." He offered his hand for me to hold and I gripped it as hard as I could.

"Annabeth Chase." A nurse called, my dad stood up and we followed the nurse into the hall. "Alright we're going to get our x-rays out of the way first." My ugly looking hand was laid on the table in positions that brought tears to my eyes and then it was put back in the sling and I was led down the hall again.

An hour later I was back in the car with my dad, with a purple cast holding my broken hand together. We stopped at a pharmacy on the way home and my dad picked up the liquid pain medicine that the doctor had explained tasted horrible and couldn't understand why an eight year old couldn't swallow pills.

When I got home my dad pulled out all my favorite movies and set up pillows and blankets on the couch. I choked down the medicine and before I could panic about it making me drowsy I fell asleep. I woke up at dinner time and struggled to balance spaghetti on a fork with my left hand.

"I don't like that medicine." I told my dad as he measured out my ADHD medications into syringes.

"Your hand is going to hurt a lot if you don't take it." He answered simply.

"It makes me tired, I don't like medicine that makes me go to sleep." He poured a glass of juice to get the medicine taste out of my mouth.

"You know you're safe here. You can even sleep in our room if you're worried, but I want you to take the medicine the doctor gave us. I'm not going to make you take it, but it will make you feel better." I reluctantly took the pain medicine with all the others before going to play with the twins. I listened to our parents talking in the other room, mostly about the things my counselor said, then about the real problem.

"Maybe we can homeschool again? She doesn't need bullies, she needs friends."

"She won't get any friends at home with a tutor." My step-mom reasoned. Was she actually on my side? "But being bullied won't fix anything." My heart started to sink.

"Well, a new school then?"

"Like what? We searched the country for schools that could help her, we can't afford to move right now."

"Boarding school?" My dad threw out there.

"She was gone for a year, she'll think we're sending her away." My step mom said softly. "She needs to know we care, not that we think she's a problem."

"That's not what I meant." My dad was furious. "She's my kid, how could you even imply that?" His voice was raising, they hardly argued anymore, but this was going to get serious.

"I love her too, but that's just how she would feel. We'll look into schools, Annabeth is too smart for either of us to teach at home, we'll get her switched out of that class for now, and just look at new schools, okay?"

The two of them came in to get the twins showered and ready for bed and I started my extensive bedtime routine. My body felt sluggish and exhausted, but I didn't have to go to school the next day.

I slept through most of Friday and my hand didn't hurt nearly as much after the weekend, my dad let me stop taking the medicine and I was allowed to go to school on Monday. Before I jumped out of the car I leaned in to hug my dad.

"Now listen, your step-mother and I tried really hard to get you changed out of your class, but it takes a while. If that girl bothers you, you just need to tell a teacher, okay?" I nodded, but I could tell from his face that he knew I wasn't going to tell anyone if she did bother me. "I love you." He smiled warmly and I knew that even though I wasn't going to tell on her he would forgive me.

"I love you too, see you after school." I jumped out of the car and started the familiar walk to the library, all the books you could read, I luckily had a large stack over the weekend with my broken hand, but it was time to return them and get new ones. I pulled all five out of my backpack and dropped them on the counter.

"Hi Annabeth, I missed you on Friday." The librarian said in a gentle voice, out of everyone on campus that knew of me, she and my teacher were probably the only ones that heard me talk on a regular basis.

"I broke my hand and had to stay home." I held up my purple cast to show her.

"Oh no, that's terrible. How'd you break your hand?"

"It was an accident." I said simply, she didn't press me for further answers.

"Are all your friends going to sign it?"

"Who would sign it?" I asked watching as she placed all my returned books on a cart.

"I will, if that's okay with you?" I nodded and watched as she pulled out a silver permanent marker. She wrote a quote from Dr. Seuss and a nice smiley face before signing her name at the bottom. "Hurry up and pick out the books you want, school's about to start soon." I started my normal circling of the library and found five more books with the intention to finish them by next Monday.

I walked into my classroom just as the bell rang and my teacher greeted me with a smile. "How are you feeling today?" She asked after I had placed my backpack in its cubby.

"Better, can I have the homework that I missed?"

"Of course, and I moved your seat away from Lauren. If she bothers you please tell me." I nodded because I knew that was the answer she wanted and went to find my new desk.

Surprisingly having my desk at the other side of the room fixed everything for a few days, no one bothered me and all my new table members ignored me, which I was very comfortable with. I started a new medicine for my OCD, it made me jittery, but my parents had this idea that with enough medicine I would be normal again.

Everything was going well until I was actually switched into a new class, it changed the way Lauren saw me. I guess I was actually a threat to her in some way because a week after being in my new classroom she cornered me at recess and took my library book from my hand. She tore the pages out, one by one. My heart began to race again, I watched as the book was destroyed in front of me, I squeezed the hard plaster cast on my right hand, my dad was really worried when I broke my hand.

Lauren threw the book into the dirt, and I just watched, counting to ten over and over, it became a mantra that kept me focused until she pushed me against the brick of the school. I saw her lips moving as she talked to me but all I felt were her hands on my upper arms pinning me to the school, but it wasn't her, it was some man that usually only haunted my dreams.

The panic escalated so quickly I became a victim of instinct and swung out with my casted arm. I saw Lauren crumple in front of me, but I couldn't stop, some part of me was convinced that she was going to hurt me and the only way to stop her was to protect myself.

I swung and swung and it wasn't until hands behind me lifted me away that I saw Lauren was crying and her mouth and nose were bloody. I was carried to the office and left in a room with the school counselor, I tried to explain that I hadn't meant to hurt Lauren, I thought Lauren was going to kill me. There was nothing I could say that would make what had happened any better.

My cast counted as a weapon, my impulsivity was dangerous.

I was expelled.

**Thanks for reading everyone! Please review!**


	12. Chapter 12

**I love all your reviews sooo much, I just feel really bad that I can't respond to all of them because of some personal settings people have on their profiles and some people aren't logged in so,**

**Guest: Thanks for being the first person ever to review! "I hope you got over it eventually" That's a weird thing to say, you don't just really get over it, but I'm assuming you said it with good intentions. Thanks for your review!**

**Anonymous: (chapter 6)Thanks for your review! Riley tricked her, Annabeth's parents would be there in a heartbeat if they knew where she was, but Riley is evil. Thanks for reading!**

**Ramona M. Miranda: I love your word choice! SHIZAM! I will try and keep up with this fanfic to the best of my abilities, and I'm doing "better" but if I explain how much my life has changed because of my experiences when I was seven then I'll give away half the fanfic! Please keep reading!**

**Alexis: Thanks for your review I will update as soon as I can and more often than not at least once a week! Thanks for your kind words but you don't need to feel sorry, you reading "my story" means a lot. **

**Thanks again everyone!**

**-Kodi**

While I was out of school I had counseling twice a week, my parents tutored me as they searched the west coast for a school that could support me. It seemed the longer I stayed in counseling the more diagnoses they could give me and by the time that my cast was cut off I was on three more medications bringing the grand total to six. One for depression, one for anxiety, one for OCD, another for ADHD, one for a mood disorder, and the last was for a strange twitching that had started.

After a very stressful month for my parents they sat me down at the kitchen table. "We know how difficult it has been for you these past three months at home, and I hope you understand that your step-mother and I love you very much." My father stressed holding a folder in his hands.

"I know, and I love you too." I replied honestly, but I couldn't tear my eyes away from that folder.

"Well your father and I have been looking for a new school for you, with the help of your psychologist." I nodded and my shoulders made a quick shrug, a twitch that I had no control over.

"Well the good news is that the school we found is very close to home, only forty-five minutes away, the bad news is that you can only come home on weekends." My father placed the folder on the table and opened it with shaking hands. "This is the Carlton School for Girls, your step-mother and I have been there a few times just to make sure that it is right for you." They both stopped and looked at me.

"So I'll live at school during the week and come visit on weekends?" I tried to keep my voice even so they wouldn't get worried.

"It's the best school we could find." My father said with a weak smile. "We couldn't find a school that could help with your dyslexia that was close enough or let you live at home part time. All the rest were full-time boarding schools and weren't even close to as good as Carlton."

"It's because I got expelled isn't it?" I asked as my anxiety rose, I wanted to see what was in the folder, but I knew asking for it would make it seem like I wanted to go.

"It was harder to find a school that would accept you because you were expelled, yes." My step-mother said, sliding the folder out of my father's hands. I twitched again, but we all pretended like it never happened. "But we want to make sure you understand that we are doing this in best interest of your education, we would never ever send you away."

"I know that." I said quickly, I didn't want them to feel guilty that I had gotten myself kicked out of school. "When do I have to be packed by?" I watched as most of the anxiety left the two of them.

"You don't have to think about that yet, let's look at all the good things at this school." My dad eagerly pushed the folder in front of me and the two of them spent the next thirty minutes talking about debate teams and gifted classes. They had seen the dorm that I would be staying in and I only had one person that I had to share my bed room with. There were sports and clubs and field trips to all sorts of exciting places. "How do you feel about all of this? And be honest Annie, we won't make you do anything you don't want to do."

"I like going to school, and I'm sorry I got expelled. This is where I have to go if I want to go to school?"

"No you don't have to do anything, you would have to be homeschooled for a little while until we can find the money to move or send you to another school. So your options are Carlton or homeschool." I read each page in the folder and I could feel the waves of anxiety radiating from my father.

"I get to come home every weekend?"

"And holidays, we'll come pick you up at four on Friday and drive you back to school after dinner on Sunday." I put everything back into the folder neatly. "So, what do you think?"

"I'll go to Carlton, if"- The tension in the room escalated quickly. "You promise to call every single day, and you'll answer every time I call." A smile broke out across both their faces, and I smiled because they smiled.

"I swear." My dad said closing the folder, my step-mom stood up opening her arms for a hug. I jumped up from the table and hugged her tightly because that's what I knew she wanted.

"We will call you every day before bed, how's that?" My step-mom asked resting her hand on the top of my head.

"That's great, how soon do I have to be packed up?" I gently pulled away from her embrace, so she wouldn't be offended.

"Well it's already Wednesday so it would be silly to start school this week, can you wait till Monday?" I nodded, there was so much I had to get done and I was secretly excited to get a break from the concerning glare of my parents. I loved them with every cell of my being, but I didn't want them to be so worried.

The rest of the week was wonderful, my parents seemed to a have lifted a weight from the house, I was going to school and the school had the ability to deal with my needs. There were doctors there and people that could help me and they didn't have to send me away, we would see each other every week. By the time the weekend rolled around my parents had finally accepted that I was leaving to some extent and hand begun helping me pack up my bedroom. I wasn't allowed to take a ton of personal belongings, things like a school uniform and toiletries would be provided so I only had to think of pajamas and books, all the books I could fit into a suitcase.

My dad did end up putting a weight limit on my book suitcase, he had to be able to lift it without throwing out his back, so we came to a compromise and I could always come home and exchange books out anyway. I packed all the things I cared about, especially the framed picture of my dad with Athena.

By the time Sunday rolled around I was anxious to see the school that I had done a lot of research about. I had read the folder of information they had given my father ten times and had seen every inch of their website, I knew the map of campus like the back of my hand and had already figured out the most efficient way to get to all of my classes. We had a meeting with the school counselor that night, someone that I had sessions with once a week, but had to check in with every weekday. We were running a little late which made me anxious, but my father kept reminding me over and over that it was nothing to be worried about. Bobby was throwing a small tantrum because Michael had stolen a truck that was supposedly his, but my dad ignored the screams and buckled him into his car seat. He took the car from Michael and put it into his pocket, causing him to start screaming, but my dad then picked him up too and buckled him into his seat. There was now a harmonized chorus of screams through the car, but I was too excited about my new school to care about the twins crying.

After an hour in the car we pulled into a group of familiar buildings surrounded by a high gate. My father pulled the car into the gate entrance and rolled down his window to talk to the security guard. After a few short exchanges the car pulled into a small parking lot, a woman about the same age as my step-mother stood there with a large smile. "Hi, my name is Ellie, I'm your RA, I live on your floor and can help you with anything you need. Everyone is excited to meet you, are you ready to move in?" I nodded and shook her hand politely.

"Where do we go to meet with the Mrs. Kinsler? She's the school counselor that Annabeth is going to be working with."

"The counseling office is in the Student Union, that's a block that way to the right." I replied automatically. Ellie smiled widely.

"Annabeth is right, I see you already know your way around school so how about we just get you moved in?" I nodded, trying to remove myself from the awkward situation that I had just created. I helped my parents move my things into the elevator and then we reached the fifth floor and moved into my bedroom.

"Mrs. Kinsler thought it would be a good idea for Annabeth to have her own room for the time being, so this is just temporary." Ellie said opening the door to my dorm room, there were two beds, two dressers, and two desks with small bookcases cut into their sides. "We had a student move and her spot will be filled at the start of the new semester." I glanced at my parents but they looked away quickly, some serious bargaining had to have been done for me to start school in the middle of the semester. Michael and Bobby had started playing on the beds, but no one stopped them so I opened up my suitcases and began unpacking. It was slightly amazing how few things I actually brought, the dresser was full of school uniforms already and so I just added the few pieces of clothing that I really needed. I filled my bookcase, desk, and top of my dresser with books and then helped my dad make my bed just the way I like it.

"Alright all settled in, are you ready for that meeting with Mrs. Kinsler?" I shrugged. "What's wrong, you don't have to go here, we can go home right now." My dad rushed pulling a now empty suitcase closer to him, as if he would pack it right back up again.

"No, I want to go to school here." I rushed. "I just hate new counselors." I grumbled under my breath. "Do I have to see her?"

"Yes, they want to make sure you're doing okay. Since you got expelled from your old school that want to make sure you're okay." I ground my teeth together, I had tried to explain it to handfuls of people that Lauren had grabbed me, she had scared me, and that I didn't mean to hit her with my cast, and that once I started I just couldn't stop. But the facts were that I had broken her nose and chipped her tooth, I was a danger to normal kids.

I pouted through the entire consultation with Mrs. Kinsler, but she seemed to anticipate this. My parents handed over all my medications and went over my daily schedule and diet, they talked briefly and quietly about trauma counseling then moved on to aggression issues and being a danger to others. After a forty-five minute meeting of everyone basically ignoring me Mrs. Kinsler asked my parents to leave and I was left sitting in front of her alone. "So what do you think of Carlton?" She asked leaning closer.

"It's alright." I grumbled.

"Yeah? Your parents told me you really like history." I nodded. "I'm going to meet with you twice a day, after breakfast and before dinner, just check-in and check-out, five minutes tops. Once a week, on Fridays before you leave we'll have one-on-one sessions where we actually talk about the hard stuff. You have to come in because I give you your medicine every day, so you can't miss our meetings." I felt my shoulders fall in defeat.

"I don't know you." I answered shortly.

"I know, but we have a ton of time to get to know one another, no one is going to make you do anything you don't want to do." I nodded at her words, and she let me go out to my parents. We all went to dinner together in the mess hall and I was sure to smile a lot so my parents would be excited about leaving me at school, but by the end of dinner I knew it was time for them to get back in their car and drive away.

The idea of them leaving made my palms sweat and my heart race, but I fought it down and hugged each of them tightly before they climbed back in the car and drove through the gate that separated campus from the rest of the world. Ellie led me back up to our floor and explained all the rules about lights out and when we could watch TV, who had what chores and how I could come to her at any time of the night or day with any kind of problem. I got to meet everyone that lived on my floor and they all seemed nice enough, they came to check out my room and showed me theirs and even though I didn't really want any new friends I could tell that most of them were going to try and be friends with me.

I was in bed by curfew and read until lights out, I stared at the picture of my dad and Athena and began to wonder if Camp Half-Blood really did exist. All the other demi-gods claimed to have dreams of their parents on a semi regular basis, but I hadn't dreamt of my mother in almost two years. I thought it over for a few minutes, but decided I didn't know enough about Athena to actually know how the dreams were supposed to work.

I read through my new school books until the lights in the hall dimmed, I turned off my room light and set my alarm to make sure I had enough time to get up in the morning and get ready for my first day. I was going to graduate from this school, I couldn't be sure Athena still wanted me, and so I wasn't going to count on her keeping me safe anymore. Maybe godly parents could only send you to camp once and after that you had to save yourself, either way I didn't need to worry my Earth parents anymore. They had enough bills and grey hairs to last them a lifetime and the twins hadn't even started school yet.

When my alarm went off in the morning I jumped out of bed, made it up again, grabbed all my toiletries and my new uniform and walked down the hall to the bathroom. It was empty, which I had hoped for, I took a shower and just as I was getting out of the shower other girls were waking up, I dried off and pulled on my new school uniform. Other girls from my floor started filing in just as I was brushing my hair and teeth, I gathered up my things and walked back to my room and spent the next fifteen minutes making sure my uniform was exactly to the code stated in the handbook. I was invited by the girls that live next door to walk to breakfast with them and after making sure my backpack had everything I could possibly need, I followed them to the mess hall.

I was sure to eat a nice healthy breakfast, I had to be in top shape, it was my first day of school. The day I needed to make a good impression, but still be in the shadow enough that I wouldn't stand about among my peers. I pulled out my schedule of classes and timed it just right so I couldn't spend more than six minutes in Mrs. Kinsler's office before class. I walked into her office and she placed a piece of paper in front of me, it had five questions on it, with the numbers one through five beside each question. "I need you to read these out loud for me." She said simply.

"How did you sleep?" I circled the four. "Did you have a good breakfast?" Five. "Are you motivated today?" Five. "Do you have all your supplies?" Five. "How good do you think your day is going to be?" Five. Mrs. Kinsler looked over my answers and nodded.

"I'm glad you are so excited for your first day! What do you consider to be a five for sleep?"

"I like dreaming, good dreams, they make me happy when I wake up." I said simply. She nodded and smiled then opened a safe beside her desk and handed me all my medications for the day and a cup of water.

"Why do you take liquid medicine?"

"I can't swallow pills." I said simply emptying each syringe into my mouth and swallowing them quickly. They tasted horrible, but I would rather do this for the rest of my life than swallow another pill. I washed it all down with the glass of water and smiled at her. "Can I go now?"

"Yes, I'll see you before dinner okay?" I nodded and picked my back pack up and walked to my first class at my new school. I walked out of the Union and towards the academic buildings around the quad, the sun hit my face just right and I blended into a group of girls dressed just like me.

I smiled, and for the first time I actually meant it.

**Please review! Reviews make me smile**

**Thanks for reading, Kodi**


	13. Chapter 13

**Thanks for reading! Life's about to change for our Annabeth Chase **

Carlton had been the answer my parents and I were looking for in a month I was in the top five percent of my class and Mrs. Kinsler said that emotionally I was improving by leaps and bounds. I was finding things I was great at again and I somehow even ended up making friends, we were all in archery club together, something I found out I was good at when we tried it in physical education.

After our two week Christmas break, just as Mrs. Kinsler and my parents had warned me would happen, I had a roommate move in with me. I wasn't used to sharing my personal space like this, but I didn't bother me in the way everyone worried it would. It did make me anxious to suddenly see clutter, but it was only on her side of the room, and she wasn't even messy. But after a two weeks of living with her everything was okay, she even joined archery club.

Two months at Carlton changed the way my family worked, the tension that I was going to run away, or break everything as soon as something upset me, was gone. My parents trusted me to be alone for hours and even watch the twins when they weren't in the room. The way things worked now compared to the way they were before was something close to all my hopes and dreams coming true, I could feel that deep down, I had a family that loved me and I loved them back.

I didn't care if there actually was a Camp Half-Blood or not anymore, I had everything I needed. I could sleep through the night, I could hug my dad, I had friends and a family, and everything was just the way I needed it to be.

After a wonderful weekend of celebrating the twin's birthday my parents dropped me off at my dorm and I got ready to go to class on Monday. I told my roommate about all the cool things Bobby and Michael got for their birthday, I mentioned how old they were getting and how weird it was that they were starting school next year. She told me about her weekend, she went home on weekends too and she had gotten to go to Disney. She showed me the pictures and the shirt her mom had bought her and promised me that one day we would go together.

I fell asleep confident that I would do really well on my math test, positive that I would do great at archery practice, and sure that I had truly made a turn in my life. I woke up feeling just as wonderful, I took my shower before everyone else as usual and walked down to breakfast with my roommate. I filled out my expectations quiz for the day and took all my medicine, I smiled at Mrs. Kinsler and she smiled back. I aced my math test and the pop quiz my evil science teacher gave, everyone knows you never have a pop quiz on a Monday, but no one at Carlton liked her so I guess she had nothing to lose.

Monday was perfect, just as I predicted, and it wasn't even over yet. I went to lunch and then finished my day with study hall before I had the free time to relax and read in the library. I checked out with Mrs. Kinsler making sure to emphasize how wonderful my Monday had truly been, and maybe that was where I jinxed it.

I took all my medicine again and went to dinner, I hung out with my friends and we walked to archery practice together. It was raining outside so we were going to stay in the gym, it was a wonderfully rigorous practice to go along with my perfect Monday. I was feeling so good that it didn't even bother me that my roommate and I were asked to clean up after practice and do a little maintenance on all our equipment. Just as I we were about to put the last of the bows in and lock up the closet a group of cheer leaders came into the gym.

"We're supposed to leave the gym empty before we return the key." My roommate whispered slightly confused. I shrugged and stared at them a little more, we didn't have cheerleading at Carlton, I was almost positive of that.

"Excuse me." One of the cheerleaders called as she walked closer. We turned to greet them, but the closer the three cheerleaders got the more distorted their features became. "We're new here and were told that there's cheerleading practice at this time. Do you know anything about that?"

"No, but we can't leave while people are still in here." My roommate muttered, she was obviously confused, but I couldn't take my eyes off these cheerleaders. "I didn't know we had a cheerleading team." They started up some simple conversation, and the cheerleader closest to me, the one I kept staring at every few seconds, suddenly turned to me. Her eyes flashed red and I could have sworn that her hair set on fire. I jumped back grabbing my roommate's arm and even though she protested I saw a knowing smirk on the faces of the cheerleaders.

"We have to go." I said quickly.

"O-okay, sorry we couldn't help with cheerleading, but we really have to close up the gym." I watched as their forms changed entirely, one bronze leg, one that of a donkey, claws, pale skin with deep red lips, and even darker eyes, their hair up in flames.

"Demi-god." One of them hissed. I shook my head, I backed up until the stone wall stopped me. My roommate seemed to enter a state of stupor, there wasn't anything I could do. "We didn't expect to see anyone here, especially not a daughter of Athena."

"What are you?" I choked out, praying someone would come help me. I could handle all sorts of situations, but I knew nothing of fighting actual monsters. Like those that live under your bed.

"Empousa of course, and lucky you we only drink the blood of males. This is our first school, it was a small test, but think of how popular we would be if we went back home and told everyone how we destroyed a daughter of Athena." I felt a lump rise in my throat, I glanced over at my roommate and knew that she wasn't really seeing what I was seeing.

"Don't you know anything? She can't see us, the mist protects us from the eyes of mortals. You might be the dumbest daughter of Athena around, especially because you go to school here and not and that stupid camp."

"You know about the camp?" I sputtered. I needed a plan. I needed time to think.

"Everyone knows about that bloody camp. Where they train brats like you, just so you can strut around with a weapon and stab every moving thing you see." I nodded. And my hand tightened around the few arrows I still held in my hand.

"Yeah I was there once for a few days." Their claws raised and I lunged forward with the arrows. I attacked the leader quickly and even though stabbing her with the arrows had absolutely no effect I tackled her to the ground and pulled off her bronze leg.

My roommate started screaming and I swung that leg at anything that came near me, after a few swings I came into contact with one of the empousa, and the screams got louder as she exploded into dust. Confidence swelled within me as the two remaining empousa glared at me for extinguishing their friend.

The one legged empousa was still on the ground, but the other seemed to be looking for a point of attack. It was obvious which one she was going to take and so I countered it easily and hit her in the back with the leg. She exploded as well and I turned to the remaining empousa.

"You don't know enough to survive in our world. You're weak, and you are nothing." She dug a clawed hand into the court floor and I watched as fire erupted from the ground. The bronze leg disintegrated from my grasp, but the fire just grew.

"Oh my god, Annabeth what have you done?" My roommate cried, I stared at her with my mouth open. The fire spread faster than humanly possible and just as we ran out of the gym the flames taken over everything and the fire alarm rang through the building. Teachers and staff swarmed around quickly and soon enough there was a team of fire fighters trying to contain a fire that was nothing short of magical.

"What happened?" The teacher we were supposed to give the key to the equipment closet to asked. My roommate began speaking without hesitation, and even though it was interesting to hear what she saw happen, none of it was true. "How did this fire start, Annabeth?"

"I don't know. Those new girls attacked me and I didn't have a chance to come get a teacher. I think one of them started it, or they had a friend do it." I tried to make it sound normal, if I told them the truth I would get diagnosed with something else before the sun even set.

"No Annabeth set the fire."

"No I didn't, how could I have possibly set a fire in the middle of the gym?" She seemed stumped with the question, but insisted that I had set the fire even though she couldn't explain how in the world I had done it.

I was quickly walked to Mrs. Kinsler's office and after a few minutes of awkward staring a fireman came into the office and asked me question after question. I knew that my roommate was somewhere spewing how this was my fault and I had set the magic fire that had eaten the building in record time, but there really wasn't anything that I could say that would protect me.

By the end of the night my parents were sitting in the office with me, listening to me recant my version of what happened again. As I mentioned the three cheerleaders I was interrupted by a vice principle, "There aren't any new students and there isn't a cheerleading team. There aren't any students in the infirmary either, and from the way your roommate made it sound you beat them up pretty good. But that whole thing about kids attacking you isn't true so just tell us how the gym caught on fire." I was stuck, they had set the fire, I could blame them, but suddenly they were gone without a trace.

"I don't know how the fire started." I muttered.

"If you don't know then we have to believe the other version of events. We'll take into account that you both are responsible, but this is serious Annabeth." Mrs. Kinsler said softly. "I don't understand what happened." She continued. I just shrugged. "You were having a wonderful day." I nodded. "Have you ever played with fire?" I shook my head.

"This isn't the whole story, but it was one of the two of them. We'll punish them both." The vice principle said honestly. "While the investigation is ongoing you are suspended indefinitely, and I will prepare you that you will most likely be expelled for over a year and beginning a search for alternative education wouldn't hurt." I dropped my head into my hands.

Everything that I had worked so hard for was gone, just like that, and it wasn't my fault this time. The office emptied of the vice principle and fire chief, and I was left in front of my parents and Mrs. Kinsler.

"Annabeth I know you aren't an arsonist, you can make all this go away if you tell the truth." I shrugged, the truth wouldn't help at all. I began to cry and my dad got up to go pack up my dorm room.

"It's okay Annabeth, we are disappointed in you, but we can fix this." My step-mother said carefully. "We know you aren't telling the truth and that's what we are upset about, but there are other schools out there. You haven't made us love you any less." I nodded, and I knew they were telling the truth, but the empousa had said that I wasn't ready for their world and the longer I sat in that office the more I remembered seeing monsters. They were everywhere, flashes of distorted monster faces making me do a double take every time, but when I looked again there was a just a knowing smirk looking back at me.

All of those strangers could tell I was a demi-god, but my ignorance had kept me under the radar until now. Something about my life had kept me from that world, stopped me from hearing the whispers of my mother, from dreaming of her. I wasn't going to say anything else today, I had been so full of energy before, so excited and ready for the world. But the fight had drained everything from me, my parents led me out to their car when they finished talking to Mrs. Kinsler.

A prescription was slid across the table to keep my anxiety low and help me sleep just for the next few weeks and even though I didn't want it, I was going to take it so they wouldn't worry. We picked up the prescription on the way home and after I showered and got ready for bed I swallowed the syringe full of a thick foul tasting syrup and went right to sleep.

The next morning I woke up in my bed in my parent's house, it was a Tuesday and I should be getting ready for class, but I was at home. It took me a few minutes of glancing around to remember that I had been expelled again, I felt mostly disappointed about the whole thing. I had done everything right this time and someone else had gotten me in trouble, I shrugged it off and took a shower, then got dressed and went downstairs for breakfast.

My dad had already left for work and my step-mother explained that he was going to pick up the rest of my things from Carlton this afternoon. I nodded and ate breakfast, then took my medicine, the twins woke up and seemed excited that I was home, like it was some kind of surprise and after they finished breakfast they tried to get me to come play with them, their mom stopped me.

"Nope you have school work you need to finish." She said as I tried to leave the kitchen table. She pulled out a stack of books and packets of work. "What do you want to start with?" I just shrugged, but I was a little less upset that I would have something to do every day and I wouldn't get behind in my studies. "Okay well then let's start with social studies, and then we'll do math, then science?" I nodded. "If you need help just let me know, and before you move on to a new subject I have to check all your work alright?"

"Thank you." I whispered. I saw a smile break on to her face and she was obviously less worried about how I was handling being expelled. The day went by rather smoothly, and even though I really missed my friends I missed Carlton more. I fit in there, I had to work to be the smartest and I really could have a life without pretending about everything. Being back at home I had to always be conscious of how my actions appeared to my parents, I couldn't get frustrated, I couldn't get caught up daydreaming, and if something was seriously bothering me I had to pretend to be taking a walk around the block instead of having a panic attack in our backyard.

It only took two days for my parents to get a phone call from Carlton confirming that I had been expelled for two years, and two hours after that phone call there was a small knock on the door. "I've got it." I shouted through the house, I peeked through the small window surrounding the front door and froze. A clean cut man in a wheelchair beside Jenny my social worker, I had done it now. They were going to send me to juvie for arson, I could feel it, but I couldn't stop staring at the man in the wheel chair, I recognized him.

"Who's at the door Annabeth?" My step-mother shouted from the other room.

"I think I'm getting arrested." I called back. She rushed out to the front hall and I stood protectively in front of the door.

"Is it the police?" My step-mother tried to reach around and open the door. "You're being ridiculous, who is it?"

"Jenny, she's coming to take me away." I insisted holding on to the door handle.

"No she isn't." I stared her down for over a minute. "Jenny." She shouted through the front door.

"Yes? Is something wrong?" She called back.

"Annabeth is concerned that you are coming to take her away." She shouted, I knew I was right, why else would my social worker be here? "Can you please explain to Annabeth why you come by today?"

"Of course, as you know I get notified whenever you may need my help. So I was sent the report when you got expelled, I know you really enjoy school and you were doing so well at Carlton so I made a few phone calls and found what I believe is the perfect school for you." It was quiet for a few moments.

"See? Annabeth can we let them in now?" I backed away from the door slowly and my step-mother let them in. She apologized quickly and led them to the kitchen offering drinks and snacks. I shuffled in behind them and stood in the doorway to the kitchen, there were folders spread across the table and my step-mom was talking to the man in the wheelchair. "This is all wonderful, Fredrick should be home in fifteen or twenty minutes I hope you can stay."

"We're here for Annabeth, we'll be in town for a week and you can call us whenever you need us. Right now we have the rest of the day to explain our school to you." The man said with a warm smile. "We've had many students with Annabeth's record of expulsions and have had complete one-hundred and eighty degree turns. I truly believe Máthete Academy is what Annabeth needs, and honestly we need Annabeth she is a very bright child that can help us better our program."

"Annabeth come sit here and let me know if this is something you are interested in." I dragged my feet all the way to the kitchen table and took a seat letting my eyes fly over the folders and pamphlets, I suddenly recognized where this man was from and what these were all pictures of. I glanced up at Chiron and saw his eyes twinkle.

"I love it, I want to go. When can I go?" My step-mother suddenly seemed wary of the idea.

"Well Annabeth your father and I need to talk about all this first, I don't even know if we can afford it and where is this school located?"

"We're in New York, and Annabeth has a scholarship." Chiron said softly.

"New York?" I watched her face pale. "I'm sorry, we'll have to decline"-

"No we don't, I really want to go. I have to go, this place is perfect."

"We'll wait for your father." I could tell that was the end of it and so we all sat around the table waiting for my dad to come home. As soon as he walked through the front door I jumped up and ran to him.

"Please let me go." I begged, he kicked off his shoes and raised his eyebrows towards my step-mother.

"Jenny found a wonderful school for Annabeth to attend, they'd like to show you in the kitchen." I held tightly to my dad's hand and dragged him to the kitchen. Jenny introduced Chiron and I was sent away as they talked about the boring stuff, everything that was wrong with me and how the school could help me. How I could be a danger to others if put in specific situations, but Chiron had all the right answers and I could tell that my father was impressed.

The problem they had was that Camp Half-Blood, or Máthese Academy I guess it was called in the mortal world, was a boarding school that I would theoretically live at year round. From the school year, straight through summer, I didn't have to stay over the summer but both Chiron and Jenny agreed that it would be best for me.

After hours of talking I could tell that my parents were still worried about letting me go to school across the country, and finally Chiron told them exactly why I needed to go to Camp Half-Blood. "You see it's very important that Annabeth come with us to New York."

"How so?" My dad was starting to get angry, he got really defensive when it came to what was best for me.

"Annabeth is in danger, my school is a place of protection for children like her."

"I know how to protect my children, that bastard is in jail and he is going to rot there." My father spat, my heart pounded. We don't talk about that stuff in the house, and I liked it that way.

"That's not what I mean, and you are a wonderful parent, but incidents like the fire at Carlton will follow Annabeth for her entire life. Annabeth is a demi-god." The room was quiet. "Annabeth is a daughter of Athena, correct?"

"Yes Annabeth's mother's name is Athena, but this is irrelevant."

"Athena the goddess of wisdom. Annabeth is half mortal, the fire at Carlton wasn't her fault. Her roommate reported her attacking other students, those were probably creatures of our world." The whole room just had an awkward tension to it.

"How in the world am I supposed to believe something as crazy as this?" My dad muttered.

"I am a centaur, would that prove anything?" I peaked around the corner and watched as Chiron carefully unfolded himself from his wheelchair. A full grown centaur took up almost all of our kitchen and as my parents stared open mouthed he eased himself back into the wheel chair.

"Okay, okay, but how do you know Annabeth is a daughter of Athena? My child a demi-god, wouldn't I have known?"

"That's one thing that we would like to get a few answers on. Athena herself has had a difficult time communicating with Annabeth, and I don't know of a way to prove that Annabeth is a demi-god, her mother could send a sign"-

There was a knock at the door.

"Fredrick can you get that?" My step-mother asked, I followed my father to the door and watched as he opened it.

"Athena?" He asked breathlessly, the woman from my photograph hadn't aged a day and she stood there in an intimidating manner that somehow made me proud. She walked in and gave my father a gentle hug, then turned to me.

"Annabeth you've grown so much." I nodded. "Do you still have that Yankee's cap I gave you?"

"It's just a hat, but yes I still have it." I wanted to love her, I wanted to miss her, I wanted to feel something about her, but I couldn't. There was nothing there.

"It will work when you need it." I saw a flash of sadness in her eyes, but thought nothing of it. My dad had that same sadness when I would catch him watching me.

"Oh hello." My step-mother said warily.

"Hi, I'm Athena, Annabeth's mother. You've done such a wonderful job raising her and I couldn't thank you more, but I truly believe it's time for her to go to Camp Half-Blood. She needs to know more about who she is."

"Uh- okay, it's nice to meet you too. Please come sit down." We walked back into the kitchen.

"Welcome Athena, it's a pleasure seeing you here." Chiron said with a bright smile. Jenny seemed as surprised as everyone else.

"Chiron. Jennifer I must thank you personally for all the hard work you have done for Annabeth, your mother and I are very proud." Jenny's face turned a deep shade of red.

"It's what you do for family ma'am, thank you."

"You're a demi-god too?" My father asked finally tearing his eyes away from Athena and staring at Jenny.

"Yes, my mother is Hestia."

"Isn't she a virgin?" My dad blurted out, he apologized immediately.

"Yes, children of Hestia are rare, they are born out of true love in a family and are usually found in the home of a family unable to have children of their own." Athena explained. "As I was saying, it's time for Annabeth to go to camp and learn to be a demi-god, it's a part of who she is."

"Well I don't think we really have a choice, we don't want her to be attacked by any Greek monsters and she needs to go to school. That's where she needs to be." My dad said reluctantly.

"Okay well we have a plane ticket for Annabeth leaving at the end of the week." Chiron said with a bright smile.

"I'll go under one condition." I rushed, staring at my three parents in front of me.

"You'll call me at the same time every day." My dad smiled and relaxed.

"Of course I will." He and my step-mother nodded. Athena seemed to be calculating some grand equation in her head.

"I love you dearly Annabeth." She said softly. "I'm so sorry I let you down." She stood up from the kitchen table and kissed the top of my head, I blinked quickly and she was gone.

"You swear she'll be safe at this school?" My dad asked breaking the silence that Athena had left us with.

"I swear." Chiron responded without hesitation. "You can call Annabeth every day and ask her, we have a few designated family days, but Annabeth can come home and visit."

"Okay, well what are we waiting for then? I guess we had better start packing?" He asked turning to me. I jumped up and threw my arms around him, I was going back to my friends; Thalia, Luke, Grover, other kids just like me, hundreds of cousins and a dozen siblings. Everything I could possibly need.

**Thanks for reading everyone! Please please please review!**

**-Kodi**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hey everyone thanks for all your support and patience, I have had a rough couple of weeks. I'm doing really well in school for once, but I'm doing it! I've started working with a new psychologist and so far I believe she is awesome, but it's really exhausting telling someone you don't know your deep dark secrets. So thank you for trusting me to continue to update this story. I won't give up on Annabeth she still has a lot to share with all of you.**

The gate to Camp Half-Blood loomed in front of me, my heart thumped in my chest, adrenaline pumped through my veins, I was ready for this. Chiron led me to Athena's cabin and Melanie greeted me with a large hug, "I thought you had forgotten about us." She exclaimed dragging my suitcases to the girl's wing of the cabin. "Wow you've gotten so tall!" I felt myself blushing as we unloaded my suitcase into a trunk at the foot of my bed.

"Not really." I muttered. "What have I missed while I was gone?"

"Don't worry about that, you were gone for most of the school year so you're back just in time for the fun part, summer." Melanie explained lining up all my books in a small book case next to my bed. "You'll fit in here, I promise. Just be yourself." I nodded and after packing away all my things went to a meeting with my dad, Chiron, and Mrs. Valentine. I found my dad on the porch of the Big House with his mouth open slightly staring at everything in front of him.

"This place is amazing Annabeth." He said gesturing for me to stand beside him. I looked out at the camp over the railing and smiled. "Your step-mother and I will figure it out, but we're going to come visit you every month or so, it that okay?"

"I would love that." I answered honestly. "Do you think I'll learn how to canoe?" I asked as the sun burst across the lake.

"You're going to learn a lot more than that here, they'll teach you weaponry and combat, more Greek mythology than you could ever imagine." I leaned into his side and he wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "I'm proud of you." He said as we watched a group of older kids walk toward the rock climbing wall in the distance.

"What for? I got expelled, twice." I answered with a laugh, and surprisingly my father laughed with me.

"That is true, but I haven't met another kid as tough as you. And you're my kid." He pointed out. We watched the camp move around us, they had been out of school for a few hours and it looked like the real fun was starting. Sword fighting, satyrs teaching a few kids pan pipes, the warm sun baking the fields of strawberries in the distance.

"Mr. Chase? Chiron is ready for you. I'm Cynthia Valentine I'll be Annabeth's psychologist, it's a pleasure to meet the both of you." She shook both our hands and I could swear she winked at me.

We walked into Chiron's office and my dad seemed a little surprised that he was back in his wheelchair, though a full grown horse would take up most of the office space. "Welcome to Camp Half-Blood Chase family." He said with a bright smile. My dad shook his hand and took a seat in front of Chiron's desk. I sat beside my father and Mrs. Valentine sat beside me. "Thank you for getting us all of Annabeth's records so quickly, we've been able to get her schedule ready and now we know which classes she will take."

"Great, we would like to call Annabeth every day before dinner. And when can we visit her?" The paranoia was evident on my dad's face, he was ready to just pack everything up and drive me back to California at the slightest sign of trouble.

"Before you go to dinner come here to the Big House and either I or Mr. D will help you call your parents, and Mr. Chase we have a family weekend every other month. I'll get you all those dates and we would love to see your entire family there." My dad ground his teeth, he was frustrated that Chiron could actually answer these questions.

"I've talked to the doctors that Annabeth has had over the past year and I think I've figured out why she hasn't been able to communicate with Athena the way other demi-gods have communicated with their godly parents."

"It's a medical thing? Is there something wrong with Annabeth?" My dad almost jumped out of his chair, this was getting more and more embarrassing with every passing minute. I wanted to go out and find my friends, Thalia and Luke had no idea I was coming back unless someone told them. I was going to surprise my best friends, my only true friends with the fact that I had returned to the place I truly belong.

"No, there's nothing wrong with Annabeth, but that extensive list of medications she is on may be interfering with the immortal world." Mrs. Valentine said carefully searching my father's face for a reaction.

"I don't know about that, Annabeth has been a lot better since starting the medications."

"I'm sure she has gotten a lot better, but she's a demi-god she's dyslexic because she is meant to read Greek, she has ADHD because she's a warrior. Through the activities we offer here at camp we teach our students how to overcome and manage their impulses. A majority of the students here have both ADHD and dyslexia, they understand, and this is a very safe place to try starting over without medications." My dad chewed on his bottom lip, he was just convinced by Athena to send me here, and he really didn't want to take me off my medications.

"Annabeth how does this all sound to you?" My dad asked, I jumped a little in my chair. I was suddenly included in something as important as medicine, my dad gave me a little smile and raised his eyebrows waiting for an answer.

"I don't like taking my medicine, it makes me feel funny." I muttered.

"Well there you go." My dad said simply. "We'll stop taking them." That was it, my dad was really ready to start this kind of journey.

"With these types of medications you can't just stop taking them, so we'll slowly make the doses smaller until there's nothing left. It can take anywhere from four to six months." She explained.

"That's okay, I just don't want to take them forever." My dad didn't seem upset by this decision and that seriously surprised me. "How often do I have to talk to you?"

"Once a week, on Fridays I'll pull you out of recess after lunch. Just for an hour, but I live here at Camp so if you ever need me for any reason just tell a senior camper, a teacher, anyone and I'll come find you."

"Well that's pretty cool huh?" My dad said softly, I could tell he was worried, he knew he was going to be asked to leave soon.

"This place is the best, I already have friends and I have brothers and sister. Other people like me that enjoy reading and geometry." My dad's shoulders slumped a little and I knew I had won, no more medicine and I was officially a camper at Camp Half-Blood. I was sent away so the grown-ups could talk about all the serious stuff, I found myself wandering around the Big House.

There wasn't much to it, a whole wing was reserved for an infirmary of sorts. There was a game room that didn't have much more than a ping-pong table, a few offices, and then an upstairs. Something about the upstairs brought dread to the pit of my stomach, but there was also a magnet somewhere deep inside me pulling me closer and closer.

I could feel eyes watching me, something was dragging me closer to the stairs, I needed to go up them, there was something up there just for me. Something was waiting for me in the attic, something important. I placed my hand on the banister, the smooth wood was warm beneath my hand. It felt right, I deserved to know what was up there. I gripped the rail hard and placed one foot on the first step, the carpet was surprisingly clean and new looking, the attic wasn't a place that was visited frequently.

Maybe I wasn't allowed up there. I released my hand from the banister, I didn't want to get in trouble. I didn't want to get expelled before my dad even left the school, but how much trouble could I truly get in if I didn't know what was and wasn't allowed in the first place.

Whatever was up there was important, I could feel it. I slid my hand along the grain of the banister, I replaced my foot on the first step and let my body carry me to the second. I could feel a powerful presence at the top of the stairs, an aura similar to my mother's. Why would I feel such a presence from an attic?

As I traveled up the stairs my heart beat faster, whatever was at the top of the stairs would change my life forever. A change would be good. The air became thicker and the weight of what was behind the dark wooden door settled heavily on my shoulders, but it was important, I could tell that much. I gripped the door knob with a shaking hand, surprised how cold it was, something, someone, was behind this door, I could feel it.

The knob turned beneath my hand and the door opened on well oiled hinges, the air pressure around me changed. I took a deep breath preparing to open the door further.

"Annabeth, come show me your room before I leave." My father called from down stairs. I shut the door quickly and sprinted down the stairs, the further I got from the room the less I cared about what was behind that door.

We walked around the camp beside Chiron in his centaur form, he showed us everything from the stables to the pavilion where all the meals were eaten. Our tour ended at the Athena cabin, which was currently empty. The front room was full of desks and archeological models of historical buildings, from there it branched off into a girls and boys wing with private senior counselor rooms in the front of each.

"Well this place is officially amazing and I'm jealous I couldn't go here as a kid." My dad said sitting on my new bed.

"It is pretty awesome." I agreed.

"I want to make sure you know that if anything happens, even if you just get really homesick or just decide you hate this place, you can call me or your step-mom and we will come pick you up in a heartbeat. No questions, we'll just come get you." I nodded. "I love you so much."

"I love you too." I answered quickly.

"You'll call me before dinner right?"

"Of course." I hugged him tightly and, after I had embarrassingly shed a few tears, walked him to the front of camp. The rental car sat there waiting for him, and I held tight to his hand for the first time in over a year. "I love you daddy." I said quickly as he reached down to give me another hug.

"I love you more Annie. You don't have to do this unless you want to, no one will be upset if you change your mind." I nodded.

"I'm just going to miss you." I responded honestly.

"We'll miss you too, but we will visit you all the time and we'll never ever stop loving you." He hugged me as tight as he had when the police gave me back to him. "I'm going to leave now, but if you need anything you know how to call everyone right? It doesn't matter what time, I want to hear from you okay?"

"I promise." I sniffled back tears and forced a smile at him. He gave me a forced smile back, before squeezing my hands and getting into the rental car. He pulled away from camp and I was left there, alone. My chest began to hurt and I wanted nothing more than for him to come back and just stay for dinner.

"Hey Annabeth." Melanie called behind me. I dried my eyes quickly and pulled myself together. "It's okay to be sad, everyone is sad after they get dropped off." She said simply. I shrugged, I didn't want to be known as the crybaby at camp. At Carlton everyone knew who cried at night for their parents, I was going to live here until I went to college I didn't want to be known as the crybaby. "Are you ready to meet your brothers and sisters?"

"I guess so." I answered trying to stay calm. "How many do we have?"

"In the whole world? I have no idea, think of a famous person, they're probably a demi-god. We have a really big, crazy family, but it's wonderful." We started walking back towards the half circle of cabins. "Here at camp there are six other girls and seven boys, we aren't the biggest cabin, but we are the smartest." I couldn't help but smile.

"What about Luke and Thalia, are they still here? Do they know I'm back?" I rushed.

"Yeah they're still here, Luke is amazing with a sword and Thalia is craving for a quest but Mr. D is hesitant to give her one. I don't think anyone told them you were coming back today though." We walked into our cabin and it seemed as though everyone was standing in the main room.

"Welcome to camp!" They all called out to me, all of these people were my family, my friends. They went around introducing themselves and showed me projects that they were working on.

"This is your desk." Melanie said, it had cards written to me from each of my brothers and sisters. I was smiling from ear to ear, it was better than Christmas, better than any birthday I had ever had. "After you get used to camp you can start your own project, or you can join someone else's. You're going to love it here, don't worry about anything."

I knew she was right, this place was my home, when I had been lost and scared and hurt I had ended up here and now that I was healed and strong and independent I had found my way back. I was home.

**I know it wasn't as eventful as previous chapters, but life has ups and downs. Please review! **

**-Kodi**


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